#instead of focusing on the story of the grisha trilogy

[jeanmoreaux]

also can we pls acknowledge how insane it is of the sabs2 writers to rush their gay couple for literally no narrative reason while completely ignoring a canon lesbian couple that’s right there for them to work with

[soleillunne]

OKAY OKAY SO!! do you have any book recs?? i want to get back into reading, it feels like i've mostly been focused on writing these days

i have a bunch but most are fantasy!

the folk of the air trilogy - holly black

enemies to friends-ish to enemies to lovers, mc is a badass and the li is so in love (hes also a menace but mc kinda covers that lmao)

this is a 3 book series with a new series that just dropped that happens after the events of these 3 books

the order is: the cruel prince, the wicked king, the queen of nothing, stolen heir (the new book) but there are also books you can read in between (that i havent read myself)

by far the best book series ive read, i would sell my soul to read it again for the first time

circe - madelline miller

this is a story about circe, a godess (i think) from greek myth. the writing was beautiful, but since its myth, if youre not interested i dont reccomend

(same goes w song of achilles by the same writer)

shadow and bone & six of crows - leigh bardugo

(this one has a two season series on netflix too if youre interested)

shadow and bone - 3 books;

mc is so op honestly, she discovers magical powers early in the book and finds out shes grisha (ppl that have magical powers), but not just any grisha, shes a legend grisha, one of a kind

i dont really remember who she ends up with as its been a while since i read the books but one li is an ass while the other gives golden retriever vibes and i didnt like either of them /lh

six of crows - 2 books;

now listen, i didnt actually read these two books but in the tv show the two series are shown at the same time and i like the characters in this one more

badass gang, thats it. (look more info pls dont trust me)

the kane chronicles - rick riordan

percy jackson is so famous people forget this absolute gem right here.

the idea is the same as percy jackson, except this time its about egyptian gods instead (also techically mc isnt a child of the gods)

it has 3 books, with extra crossover books w pjo (that are also really good once you have the basics)

the midnight library - matt haig

i'm actually not sure what category this falls into.

mc has an accident and ends up at a library at exactly midnight, where the weird librarian tells her that this library is her life (of sorts). basically each book in the library is how her life couldve been like based on some decisions she made

and she keeps going to these other versions of her life by reading the books until she realizes hey, she wants to live, and goes back to her original life

not my favorite, but still an okay one

dune - frank herbert

this is a classic, but it was really good

i dont remember the details, all i really remember was that i had sth for the mc

fr tho its really good, give it a go if long books dont intimidate you

as for books to get into reading again, hmmm

cries okay so dont get mad but the cruel prince got me out of a reading slump

momo - michael ende

this book is so well written istg

mc is a child, first of all. and i dont mean like a teen i mean shes 8 max, shes a literal child but its okay bc there isnt that much action in this one

the main idea of the book is about how precious time is, but its told through such an interesting way. there are time thieves that steal other people's time to live, making it look like theyre helping people save time on mundane things, and momo stops them (not in an insane way i promise)

the secret garden - frances hodgson burnett

this is a classic, but dont let that fool you this is a really well written book

this one has almost no action in it btw

mc is also a child here (shes maybe 12 at most), she moves into the mansion of her uncle after her family dies where she starts to behave like an actual child instead of some spoiled princess/lh

so one day while going on a stroll in the garden area (?) bc no one is there to take care of her now, she finds a secret garden and decides hey since no one seems to care for this garden, this is mine now

also there are other children that she befriends along the way that help her w the garden

def recommend

extra;

anne of green gables (this is so long honestly i ended up just watching the series bc the fact that its 8 books intimidated me at the time - ill get to it eventually)

miss peregrines home for peculiar children (also same as above - i loved the concept tho and ill read it eventually)

percy jackson - a classic

Jayden's Rescue & Old Scroll - vladimir tumanov (these are techincally chrildrens books but theyre also great books so)

[theweeklydiscourse]

“The Darkling AND the Ravkan King”

Firstly, love how they put the Darkling first and the King second even though the Darkling literally works for the King and isn’t the sovereign of Ravka. Secondly, I think the fact that the King is such a flat and peripheral character in the narrative is a major flaw of the trilogy. He’s an uninteresting and incompetent predator King whose presence is perfunctory and adds little to the story. Since the Darkling is the most prominent antagonist with the most fleshed out motives, it’s more interesting to focus on him than it would be to focus on a flat character. Because of this, it becomes much easier for the author to shift the blame for Ravka’s problems onto the figurehead rather than the actual leadership of the country.

It has this bizarre idea that the Darkling and the King are somehow equal in power when that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Darkling SERVES the King just like the rest of the Grisha do, he only occupies a different role compared to everyone else. To insinuate that he’s on the same level of influence as the King is wildly false. This is how the story upholds the status quo, it focuses on a figurehead instead of assessing the actual root of the problem. There’s a larger issue here that isn’t being addressed and it’s so infuriating.

Siege and Storm- Chapter 7 (Leigh Bardugo)

I'm gonna sound incredibly old, but this screams young, single, no responsibilities. Wait...

Lo and behold!

It sounds SO romantic, doesn't it?! Even calling them "rogues"...

Well, as long as they're putting only their own lives into jeopardy...

But once they'll be dragging along a child or two, barely ensuring their sustenance or roof over their heads... and what if such a hypothetical child turns out to be a sickly otkazat'sya? Do they just dump it somewhere? Or lovingly watch them die of an ordinary disease that could be prevented by something as simple as steady food supply and fireplace to warm themselves?

[where-theres-smoak-2]

I’ve days this before in another post The biggest fail in this trilogy is that Alina wanted to have an easy life by that I mean having none of the responsibilities and hardships the Darkling has had to deal with in order to make Grisha safe and respected.And initially you feel sorry because she’s so young,etc but then she doesn’t evolve during the course of the story and remains the same selfish and self centered character she was.I know you probably haven’t read R&R yet but when you do I would recommend reading SOC duology. I think one of the good things about these books I’d that they’re not directly connected to the trilogy. There are some cameos from some characters but otherwise it’s focused on their own plot and the hilarious thing is that at the same time it validates the Darkling’s points since nothing changes after the Fold is destroyed things actually get worse for the Grisha(if it’s even possible)and Rsvka’s in depth due to all the wars they’re fighting which makes Alina’s story absolutely meaningless and the characters ends up looking extremely selfish after die dung the trilogy constantly victimising herself instead if actually having agency.

I'm half way through R&R, I should have finished it by now but to be honest I'm not really enjoying it and it feels more like a chore reading it. But I did get spoilt on how it ends recently and that's made me even less eager to read the rest of the book lol. Just going to put a quick books spoiler alert in here for anyone who doesn't want to be spoilt.

I've seen a lot of people say that things just got worse after the fold is destroyed. I have spoken about this in another post but whilst I think aleks was wrong to expand the fold into novokribrisk and he was wrong to put the collar on alina, I think his desire to not destroy the fold is valid. It's the only thing that makes grisha useful to the king in a unique way, it requires nearly all the different types of grisha to cross the fold safely. Without it the grisha won't be useful anymore and how long until they are back to being hunted and kill within ravka on top of everywhere else. So I am actually a big supporter of let's keep the fold and instead have alina realise that her destiny isn't to destroy the fold that's just religious propaganda told to give hope to people when the fold was created. Her destiny is actually to protect the grisha. I never throughout the books got the sense that she ever really cared about the grisha. I mean sure she had a small group of grisha friends who she cared about but the grisha as a people not so much. It was more like oh are the grisha being prosecuted and killed merely for existing, burned on a stake, experimented on, kept as slaves? That's a shame, well I've destroyed the fold now so I'm going to merrily skip off to this farm with my childhood friend turned lover because naturally he's more important than an entire minority group who are suffering. Wait putting one person above an entire race of people that sounds familiar, oh right, baghra.

I just find alina's character arc very dissatisfing and was disappointed to find she ends the books series on the exact same place she started it. I personally think the more interesting story would have been for her to realise that things aren't as simple and black and white as she wants them to be and for the darkling to get a little bit of redemption and for him and alina to work together to better the lives of all grisha.

[firelxdykatara]

Reader anon here!

Hi it's been awhile, I hope you are doing well! I know I am! I have successfully bought more books and filled another shelf in my bookcase and it is just so satisfying to see! I have a shelf dedicated to each genre I like, so one shelf is just erotica and downright smut, while another is high fantasy/YA fantasy! Then at the bottom are my books on mythology and languages!

I am so proud of my collection 😩 and can't wait to get more books. That new book smell is just-🤌🏻

Do you like books that focus on romance or do you like books that focus on more mystery/conflict and have a good chuck of romance? For me, I like both!

Oh omg reader anon I am in awe at your organization skills akflgjhdkfjghdkjfgh

Right now my 'to be read' pile is a literal pile of books (well, multiple piles, but) scattered around my room and the living room and every once in a while I'll pick one up and actually start reading it (I recently started The Lunar Chronicles, in fact, and I'm already fully in love with Linh Cinder, best girl) and then sometimes I'll get halfway through and pick up another book and sdfklghdkfjhgkjdgh ANYWAY IT IS A WHOLE MESS IS WHAT I'M SAYING. I wish I could have an organized bookshelf but I ran out of space in mine ages ago and it is covered in yet more piles of books (though the ones on or around my shelves are mostly ones I've already read, although I've been eyeing Mistborn and The Wyrd Museum for a reread cause it's been so long, but I think if I started rereading old books right now my unread book piles would coalesce into an autonomous figure and beat me over the head with my own readerly ambition lmfao)

As for your question, honestly it really depends on the book! I absolutely love a good romance-focused narrative (emphasis on 'good', bodice rippers don't usually do it for me but sometimes when I'm in the mood I go to my mom's bookshelf and raid it for something cheap and tawdry (affectionate) that hits just the right button I need pressed at that moment, so y'know, it varies), but I also love books where the romance is incidental to the actual plot. In that case, though, I like it best when the romance and character arcs are woven into the plot rather than forcing the plot to conform to them, you know?

Like, I'll use the Grishaverse trilogy as an example here, because I've been rather hyperfixated on it and the extended world lately, but part of the problem I have with that series is that the romance the author clearly wants you to be invested in and root for at the end of the day is the most boring part of the entire story--and yet it quite literally warps the universe of the books around it to make it the most important part of the main character's journey.

You have a world on the brink of full-scale war where the main character has just discovered she is part of an oppressed minority group that are primed for literal annihilation--she is in the only country where her people can get even a pretense of agency and a fulfilling livelihood (Fjerda burns their witches, Shu-han vivisects them, Kerch sells them into slavery, and even in Ketterdam they aren't really safe unless they can make themselves useful enough to earn protection from one gang or another; the Wandering Isle and Novyi Zem may be the exceptions to the rule, but Fantasy Ireland and Fantasy Australia/Africa never matter enough to the story for any of the characters to find out), and yet even when she is suddenly a target for assassination purely because of what she is, there's never any real sense that she actually cares about Grisha as a whole.

Instead, the only thing she really cares about is her childhood romance. Getting back to Mal is the only thing that matters to her. The show tried to give her a little more agency (where in the books, she was pretty much just buffeted this way and that by the whims of the plot and very rarely made her own decisions about anything; and when she did, they were rarely based in any actual logic, and I say this as someone currently forcing my way through the books so that I can more accurately critique them.... it is intensely aggravating as a reader lmao), but they couldn't change the plot too much, so she winds up coming across as even more stupid than in the source material. And still, Mal and the meadow is a constant refrain, for reasons that, as far as I can tell, are never actually explained beyond 'these two kids traumabonded over their experiences growing up in an orphanage in a war-torn country, and they are dangerously codependent as a result'.

In order for the books to end as they do, Alina can't actually give a shit about the plot going on around her. The romance completely overrides the sense that anything else in this world matters, and when the romance is the most boring part of the plot, focusing on it to the exclusion of all else just makes the entire thing fall flatter than a house of cards in a stiff breeze. And that's the kind of romance I usually don't like--which gets thrown into much sharper relief when you go over to Six of Crows and find romances that actually work with the characters and the world and the plot surrounding them, rather than against it.

So that said, tl;dr: I like both too! But if the narrative is going to be romance-focused, then that romance needs to not be the least interesting part of the plot (traumabonded childhood friends to lovers working through that pain and coming out the other side healthier and happier for it can work really well, if you haven't plopped them in the middle of a world and plot that is much more interesting when they are apart), and if the romance is secondary to the plot, then it needs to take a proper back seat and work with the characters and their individual arcs as they move through the world, rather than attempting to force the plot into a different shape so the romance can work.

[literalizzy]

My final review of The Grisha Universe (I'll make a whole essay about it, cause God knows the amount of things I have to say about this trilogy)

(with spoilers)

3.5/5.0

Where do I even start?

I've been trying to write this review for the last four days now, but everytime I feel like my opinions are controversial or doesn't make sense. Thanks to all the saints though, after a long conversation with my friend, who also read this trilogy, I believe I'm finally able to express my thoughts about it.

The first book, Shadow and Bones, was amazing. I mean, a real good book that I would recommend to everyone around me. It was fluid, a fast reading, with characters you could actually like and betrayals that would keep you completely focused on the story.

However, as I've already said some posts ago, Siege and Storm was the complete opposite. It had a slow and melancholic writing, with a lot of events happening but, at the same time, nothing that was actually worth remembering. All the characters that were likeable got suddenly boring and, for more times than what I would like to admit, even irritating. The story just get exciting again around the last chapter, when Alina decides she wants the war to be over, even if for that to be possible she has to give up of her own life. And this excitement, unfortunately, ends up as soon as it started, once Maly decides he wants to save Alina from ending with herself.

By the third book then, we have that same fast reading as we had in the first, wich got my attention back after a long time of Siege and Storm's reading. In my opinion, that last book had everything to be the best of the whole trilogy. We had Alina finally non focused on her romantic relationship and trying to understand better who she was, what were her powers and what she would sacrifice for the war. She started to admit her desire to be more, to have more power, and was not ashamed of that anymore, wich I believe was a big development for her character. But none of this mattered at the end, once she gives up of all of her Grisha power, on her opportunity to be the queen of Ravka, or even a saint, for living a house life with a bunch of kids and f*cking Maly! You know, that same Maly that had only noticed he liked her in the second he realized she wasn't there for him anymore. Also that same Maly who made her feel ashamed for being strong and powerful, and instead of dealing with his own insecurities and jealousy, decided to drink as much as he could, put himself and her in danger and then kiss the girl who made Alina's life hell at the Small Palace, like the selfish man he is. I feel like Leigh got every development Alina had, every reflection about who she was and what she wanted and simply THREW THAT ON FIRE by making them endgame.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she should have been endgame with Darkling, because I don't think none Alina or Aleksander had any mental stability to be in a relationship with each other. Nor am I saying she should have turned into a queen with Nikolai, because I also believe she wouldn't ever actually love him, just live the rest of her life into a happy best friendship. Instead, I would like to see Alina being simply single and living her own life. She has been in love with Maly since she was a child, then she gets seduced by the Darkling, get betrayed by him, gets involved with Maly again, then had an affair with Nikolai, all of it in a middle of a war. Who would have mental stability to decide with who would you be in a romantic relationship with after all of it? Because I can say for sure I wouldn't.

And last, but not least, once I've mentioned Darkling, let's talk about what had me done by the end of it: why was Darkling the only one who was considered a villain in it? If we annalise everything that Darkling has done, such as sacrifing innocent people or controlling a mass of people through giving them security feeling and hope, we can see Alina did all of it too. Darkling's ideals were to make Ravka and the neighbor's countries a safe place for Grishas, who were treated like witches, tortured, persecuted and murdered by non-Grishas, taken away from their parents and forced into army since they were children. I don't know what are your opinions about it, but I believe it's a pretty fair ideal for starting a revolution. He did what he did (that were the same things Alina did) for following a fair ideal of a better country and he was made a monster at the end of the story for everyone around him, while Alina was the savior. I don't know if that was the critics of the author, but was something that bothered me a lot and made me real angry by the end of the reading.

After all, I don't feel like reading these books again so soon. Even though I like the universe and I've already started reading Six of Crows, there were too many bad points in it for me. I'm sorry if any fan of this trilogy get mad with my final review, and I'd like to say that I'm always opened up to new interpretations about it if you feel like I misunderstood something in the story.

[serpentsapple]

(This post includes major spoilers for The Grisha Trilogy and the Shades of Magic series.)

@dykeblight replied to our introductory post with the following:

alright bud since u decided to put this in the main tags of the books ur critiquing ur ready to hear my take on this. first of all the wording in this post is pretentious as hell and it bothered me all thru out reading it. second of all, let’s lay some shit down: the only books ive read discussed in this post are adsom and tgt, and while i agree that tgt isn’t the most radically feminist book series out there, i have to ask: why are u focused on women writing this? why is this post generalizing

horrible male authors but name dropping female ones? alinas journey was largely about her realizing that she could make her own choices. about her not needing to be queen or supreme ruler or some shit. about how she could literally settle down with the worlds most boring dude and still be happy. anyways, beyond that: adsom. first of all, whenever someone pulls the “not like other girls” card for lila, i have to pull the “she’s genderfluid” card. it wasn’t Explicitly stated in the series, and v

has expressed regret for that, so it’s probably going to be more obvious in the next series. also, adsom is very much a period piece. you couldn’t be a woman in the early nineteenth century doing what lila did without like, yknow, *not being a woman.* the threat she got on that first ship— a period piece! if it was a male author, then that’s gross. but it’s not, a woman wrote it! lila also proceeded to burn the whole goddamn ship down. sometimes authors don’t want to write traditionally feminine

characters!!! sometimes women want to write about what THEY can relate to! and ve schwab, as a queer woman, probably did that. so now we come back to the question of WHY are you calling out only female authors for this? you could have accomplished the same goal by just including books and authors that you deemed Respectable. not to be that bitch, but there was literally no reason for you to post this lmfao. i think we should first tackle the issue that is men having access to keyboards, and

maybe then we can broaden our horizons by critiquing everything women do thats decidedly not perfect.                            

We created this blog to discuss these topics, so we welcome other opinions and interpretations!

To reiterate our goal and perhaps clarify... male authors already receive enough publicity and analysis - to the point they eclipse, at times, their female peers, even when it comes to writing female characters. How wonderful of them to treat fictional women as fellow human beings! (How shameless of others to treat them as their personal sexual fantasy!) Yet we would like to hear what women have to say about themselves. It is why we focus exclusively on their works.

Furthermore, we believe these works as worthy of analysis as any text written by a man. And it is precisely because of this conviction - their books potentially as grandiose, as mediocre as any man’s - that we will not refrain from criticising them. To treat them differently would be implicitly agreeing with the notion they aren’t as intellectually engaging as men’s writings.

Moreover, we are not advocating for “feminist” books from women. In fact, we dislike this qualifier: too often misattributed, rarely useful, always commercial. We desire convincing female characters, as talented as they are flawed, as just as they can be immoral. Thus, while we have grown tired of uncreative, unnecessary sexism in fantasy, we are not expecting perfect little militants in every story. We expect to be moved and stunned, to be left inspired or reflecting on what we read.

I hope this has cleared up our intent with the blog. Now, for the specific series discussed...

While I could see this be Bardugo’s aim for Alina’s journey, I disagree with it being well executed. Narratively speaking, I do not think Alina was treated fairly and was able to make true choices. Throughout all three books, Alina remained unobservant and somewhat self-centered, never challenging the affirmations of others and instead regarding them as truth. Let’s take the example of the Darkling: she accepts his supposed initial good intentions and views him, to the very end, as some kind of lost and anguished “boy”. Yet that isn’t what the text shows - on the contrary, the Darkling is a hollow character that spent centuries sitting on his behind, doing nothing for his fellow Grisha. Alina is never given the chance to realise this and reevalute what happened to her.

Beyond this, I feel like Alina’s journey was contrived from the start. Bardugo does not allow her to see beyond the words of others, nor does she allow her to actually grow. Alina’s crush on Mal and her fixation on remaining with him - despite him disliking what she is! - stems from a child’s anxiety and solitude. Instead of becoming her own woman, making her own choices and yes, having to face losing relationships, Alina regresses to the safety of her childhood, powerless and normal, just like Mal. Let us remember that, to remain with him, she sealed her powers within herself, endangering her health! So symbolically, it is a slap in the face: just when she embraced her powers - meaning letting go of her fears, of Mal -, she loses it all and go back to square one.

This is why I don’t find Alina’s journey satisfying. Even if it hurts, I wish to see female characters confronted to their fears and their flaws, and grow from them*. That is not what we witnessed with Alina. And: why is it that female characters must be “depowered”? Why does the Darkling (and Ilya Morozova) get to keep his immense powers, must live with his guilt, yet Alina loses every and any scrap of magic? Why is she punished for her greed so much, when she hardly is the greediest? (This echoes also Genya’s “punishment”, so heavily tied to her being a beautiful woman and beauty being, in Bardugo’s world, a key quality for women. Nikolai’s monstruous transformation is cruel but never specifically targeted at his sex.)

Why is it female characters only whose “happy” ending involve going back to their boyfriend’s house, complete with potential children? In a fantasy world, is it the best we can offer to these characters? Why does “making her own choice” usually involve them being unambitious and - I am barely caricaturing - happy housewives? Where are the female characters being greedy, powerful to the point of madness, and fascinatingly ruthless? Where are the genius, the good but scheming inventors and princesses? Where are the female Darklings and the female Nikolais?

Yes, it may not be Alina’s story and that’s alright. But reading the story she received, I could not help wondering: is it truly her story, or is it her story in a narrative unfair to women?

As for Lila... what Schwab stated confusingly in interviews or twitter threads cannot be used to analyse the text itself, though it may help. In this case, it holds a very different perspective from what she may affirm outside of it, so let’s keep close to what she wrote.

I disagree that it is a period piece. Her series is firmly set in a fantasy version of our world, with four alternate but equally real Londons, and with interactions between them that differentiate her England from ours. She chose to keep this England similar to ours, so the departure from it could be obvious; she chose, again, to have Lila threatened with rape by sailors even in Red London, her full invention. She chose, still, to never mention the miserable reality of lots of poor women like Lila in our England - namely, prostitution. She picked what suited her, as authors do, yet could not come up with any other plot than sexual assault. That she is a woman does not excuse her utter lack of imagination on that front! I find the notion that female characters are condemned to sexual threats depressing, on top of insulting towards authors who still strive to be creative.

And this is all ignoring what Schwab forced her other female characters to endure, which is sexual slavery, somewhat coerced pregnancies and social isolation, plus being sexist caricatures and butchered so men could be sad about it. In that context, what is Schwab exactly saying about women, if even her heroine is misogynistic and desperately trying to escape this reality? If Lila isn’t a woman - which she is in the text, she never denies being one, she only affirms being different, meaning a full human being! -, does that mean women’s place is in caricature and distress and death? If she is, then must they reject their womanhood and deride other women to be in the spotlight?

And this is all, again, ignoring that Schwab who, yes, admitted wanting to write a female character she wished to see in fiction, that resembled her... had Lila’s whole development derailed in favour of male characters. Lila’s ambition and excessiveness vanished in a third book dedicated to temptation! Lila’s anger and recklessness receded in front of Holland, all so we could learn about his sad backstory. Which involved, as salt to the wound, the stereotypes of a greedy girlfriend and the ever failing mother Schwab is so fond of.

Our post never suggested that women should not write non traditionally feminine women. Rather, that would be quite refreshing! I would love to read about these women that we hardly see.

Is it what Schwab wrote, though? Lila indeed crossdresses and appears androgynous enough to sometimes pass as a man (not always, in a manner that is most convenient to the author). Yet: she constantly mocks other women for being vapid, gossiping, feminine, in a word weak. Yet: Schwab has her, in the second book, attend a ball dressed femininely and feeling insecure about it, all to state she is - quoting! - “not most girls” and have Kell, her love interest, compliments her. She has the happy tomboy reaffirmed as able to be feminine and beautiful that way! How is that not depressing for every woman and girl who never want to be feminine? Why did Schwab choose to have her in a dress instead of a suit, like Lila would probably have preferred? Why did Schwab choose to strictly divide women and men into two categories, dress-wearing and not-dress-wearing? Why is Lila alone in her plight as an androgynous woman? Why didn’t this fantasy world have women and men dressed in a way they felt comfortable with?

This isn’t a period piece. Schwab was free to make that choice... and she did not. I would add, too, that women in real life have always struggled and fought against misogyny. They were women and they were still complex human beings and they still tried to live as comfortably as they could. Sometimes they failed, yes, because society wouldn’t want them to. But women like Lila have existed, and behaved like her, and dressed like her, and dreamed as big as her. Why should not we expect as much of fiction, then?

Sidenote: I am especially critical of that awful “tomboy turns into a lady” trope that fandom will seize it and run. It is disheartening to see countless edits and fanarts of Lila depicting her as feminine instead of androgynous as she was written, and often in feminine clothing at that. So if even the narrative later ends up confirming it...

*Or perhaps spiral down, willingfully blind. Alina’s story isn’t supposed to be a tragedy, however, so this does not apply here.

(If you don’t mind, I would like to hear why you found the post’s wording pretentious?)

[jungblue]

I love that you got back to reading books! Please do tell us which ones you've read lately 🙈

okay so, i just find it ironic that i have had 2 major points in my life where i have become obsessed with reading books. one was when i was 11 and one is now, and the irony that i’m speaking of is that trashy fantasy romance books are always what seem to drag me into the book world lol. when i was 11 it was twilight. like it’s just crazy to me that it was bc of twilight that i went into this reading frenzy for 3 years and owned over 200 books by the time i graduated middle school, and then i got into high school and reading just fell away from me unfortunately. but now i’m 23 and it’s not vampires anymore, it’s faeries lmao

so anyways, what prompted this jump into books was me seeing a tiktok almost a week and a half ago now about a court of thorns and roses trilogy. i knew nothing about it and just saw people commenting about how much they loved it, and i was like you know what let’s read a book for the first time in forever, and it was just the trashy mystical creature romance that i just am apparently never going to get out of reading lol. i did enjoy the series for what it was, but didn’t love it—except for rhys who can fly me into the sky and seduce me all day with his giant fae dick (i make no apologies)

but after i finished the acotar series i read nevernight, which was just a jarring atmosphere change from acotar to that. i really liked nevernight. i know some people don’t like the writing style bc they find that it’s trying to be too edgy, but i personally am not bothered by that as long as the protagonist that is being draped in this edginess is interesting. but another thing is that it made me think a lot about how i would like to write my protagonists moving forward. bc i realized from reading acotar to nevernight that the only reason i enjoyed acotar is bc of the character rhys and not bc of the protagonist. like if rhys was not there, that series would be just so boring bc feyre as a character is not that interesting. whereas in nevernight if you took out the love subplot and just let mia stand on her own, i still would have found the book completely enjoyable bc i like her at being the character driving the plot forward. maybe not a fair comparison bc acotar is a love story and nevernight is an assassin revenge story, but if your love interest in your love centered plot is more interesting than your protagonist then it’s still an issue in my mind. but yeah in my fics i just was always focused on making sure the member i was writing about was enjoyed and not so much attention was given to the oc. i think the best i did in that department was in my fic sonic rain, and i think i only accomplished that bc it was from hoseok’s perspective so i was forced to give the oc more depth bc i had to make you guys understand why he was so enarmored by her, and i would like to pay more attention to that moving forward

at the moment i’m reading the grisha trilogy. i started and finished the first book yesterday and i’m going to be honest the only reason i’m reading it is bc i want to read six of crows which is a mega popular duology that takes place in the same universe, and i have a issue where i just like to be in on every possible type of context i can have when going into anything, be that a show, movie, or book, so i was like okay i’ll read these three books before i read six of crows even though everyone online says it’s not necessary and that the grisha trilogy is just not as good in comparison. though it’s truly a struggle bc the first book was very lackluster for me. the characters feel very surface-level, but maybe it gets better in the next two books, we shall see

but yeah like i said i haven’t read virtually anything books in the past 8 years, so i missed a lot of stuff and it’s hard to catch up on the good things that i let pass me by, so if you guys have any recs that’d be cool. i love YA as you can see, i’ll always love YA, as well as new adult, so yeah, thank you for reading my long winded answer to this instead of a simple list lol

[unknownarchiviste]

ONEUS as Grishas

➸ I have been reading Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy and I found it fun to imagine ONEUS as Grisha.

➸ Also, their LIT costume (especially the one in RTK) looked similar to what was described as a kefta (Grisha costume/clothes)

➸ I own NONE of the amazing gifs below.

➸ click here for the masterlist of my stories :)

➸ feel free to tell me what you guys think 

➸ Here is the background of the Grisha Orders. All of these is sourced from the official website (grishaverse.com). Visit the website to find out what Grisha Order you belong! :)

Corporalki (The Order of the Living and the Dead)

Heartrenders - can snatch the air from your lungs, slow your pulse until you drop into a coma, or literally crush your heart in your chest—all without ever laying a finger on you.

Healers - can heal or correct anything wrong with your body

Tailors - have the ability to change their appearance and the appearance of others—sometimes permanently depending on the talent of the Tailor.

Etherealki (The Order of Summoners)

Squallers - can raise or lower air pressure to create storms

Inferni - summon combustible gases like methane or hydrogen, but still need a flint to start a spark

Tidemakers - use temperature and pressure to summon and control water

Materialki (The Order of Fabrikators)

Durasts - deal in the solid: Grisha steel, corecloth (similar to modern body armor), textiles, and glass.

Alkemi - specialize in poisons and blasting powders.

Youngjo

➸ Part of the Corporalki Order

➸ He’s a Healer usually looking for humans and Grisha who needs healing instead of waiting for patients

➸ He’s probably one of the best students during their combat training but he chose to heal wounded soldiers instead of training to be a Heartrender

➸ He doesn’t approve of violence but he’s willing to use his combat skills when it’s needed to protect people he cares for

➸ Respected by most Grisha because of his skills and principles

Seoho

➸ Part of the Materialki Order

➸ He’s an Alkemi who spends most of his time in the workshop mixing chemicals for weapon innovation

➸ He skips combat training to try new experiments

➸ He learned most of his combat techniques through the punishments he got from his combat teacher and through his escapes from his classes

➸ Although he’s more focused on weaponry, he’s a valuable soldier since he knew how to make an escape, how to attack secretly, and how to fight well.

➸ A favorite among the Grisha since he’s funny and easy to get along with

Geonhak

➸ Part of the Etherialki Order

➸ He’s an Inferni who trains even in his free time.

➸ Combat teacher’s favorite since he’s serious in his trainings and he really does well

➸ He’s a volunteer frontliner in battles. Most people think it’s because he’s really a good fighter but it’s actually because he wants to keep his members safe

➸ Grisha fears him since he’s mostly serious and hotheaded. However, those who got to know him better see a fun side of him more than his serious side

Keonhee

➸ Part of the Etherialki Order

➸ He’s a Squaller who comes with merchants to carry shipments along the sea. Aside from being able to control wind, he’s also good in talking so he can charm other merchants to trade with Ravka.

➸ He does fine in combat but he hates it so much he skips training class sometimes to eat

➸ Although he’s not much skilled in combat, he’s a very powerful Squaller who could summon lightning and control it better than the others.

➸ He’s another Grisha favorite since he’s kind, fun, and talkative.

Hwanwoong

➸ Part of the Corporalki Order

➸ He’s a Heartrender who also knew how to heal basic wounds

➸ He’s skilled in combat and he trains a lot too. He’s passionate about working out his talents, learning how to use his gifts and learning how to utilize what he can do

➸ Enemies fear him because he’s a Heartrender (who could stop their hearts from beating by just moving his hand) and also because he wears this powerful aura during battles.

➸ Grisha either admire him when he’s in his usual self but they’re intimidated by him whenever he’s fighting

Dongju

➸ Part of the Corporalki Order

➸ He’s a Tailor who helps in gathering intelligence by altering the spies’ appearances

➸ He does not take up combat trainings because he doesn’t want to but his friends (the Hyungs) can sometimes talk him into attending combat classes

➸ Although he really doesn’t know how to combat, for some reason, he manages to make things go the way he wants them to. It’s probably because he’s clever and he knew how to talk people into doing things for him.

➸ Grisha treats him like a young prince. Because of his charming personality, he almost hold all Grisha in his hands.

Extras

➸ Geonhak was the one telling the teacher about Seoho’s escapes

➸ Most of Seoho’s experiments are for fooling around (he uses his inventions to annoy Geonhak)

➸ Keonhee and Hwanwoong fight a lot. Hwanwoong never uses his Heartrender abilities (because it’s dangerous) but Keonhee sometimes uses his wind to just flick the little boy away.

➸ Dongju is always the one stopping Geonhak and Seoho, and Hwanwoong and Keonhee from fighting. He threatens to make Geonhak’s mouth smaller, Seoho’s eyes smaller, Keonhee’s perfect jawline disappear, and Hwanwoong’s perfect nose crooked. He sometimes threaten to alter Youngjo’s whole face whenever that Healer becomes cringe-worthy.

➸ Youngjo is the one teaching Hwanwoong how to heal.

➸ Dongju sometimes go along with Youngjo to help remove scars from the healed wounds

➸ Keonhee secretly brings amazing trades to the boys

➸ Dongju bothers Seoho a lot to create new Tailoring ingredients for him

➸ Hwanwoong usually help Dongju sleep at night by using his Heartrender abilities

➸ Everyone can get under Geonhak’s skin except Dongju

➸ Yes, Dongju is loved by everyone and he loves everyone too.

[enchantedstoriesandmore]

I just had a weird moment of realization.

Now, I love a good rom-com and disney movie, but there are certain book series that don’t really resonate with me as much because there’s a stronger focus on romance.

The Grisha Trilogy, the Divergent series (specifically the ending), Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices, and a few I’m forgetting.

There are elements in them I like and admire, but I can’t claim to love them.

Compared to like Percy Jackson and all of its spin offs, listening to the audiobook for Howl’s Moving Castle, and like Anastasia and Princess and the Frog (movie but I also loved those books growing up). Even Much Ado About Nothing.

And it hit me. I hate romance to be the front and center thing. I want romance to creep up on characters where after fighting with and alongside this person for weeks and months you realize you love them. 

Like maybe you thought they were hot, but not “I was super attracted to this person and they’re kind of a big reason I’m in this magical world,” like Mortal Instruments does.

It’s a combination of a lot of small, sweet moments of arguing and joking and learning from each other where real affection is cultivated. And no one else has to understand it.

Which also explains my tendency to develop crushes on friends and having issues with online dating. The attraction is important, but wanting to talk with and hang out with someone hits deeper for me. (Is this demisexuality? Because I’ve debated whether that is in fact demisexuality.)

And I want to say there’s exceptions, like my love of the Stoker and Holmes series where one ship in particular is VERY FLIRTY and forward - but it helps that Evaline Stoker (whose POV we take on half the time) has a vampire hunting/ very intense destiny that makes the flirting more of a side note. 

And Mina Holmes (other POV) while in a kind of love triangle - one guy just brings out this beautiful side of how she feels like an outsider to the world and the other guy is a slow burn, enemies/competitors to lovers. And the story itself focuses more on her self-worth and proving herself as a detective than a Holmes. The men don’t put these woman on their paths or direct them in any way. Instead they bring out elements that we love in these characters.

In the stories I love, there is no seduction or manipulation. No sense of a woman flip-flopping between two guys. Or feeling of a woman making herself smaller or bending to fit together. 

There is no real questioning of will they or won’t they. Because it makes sense for these characters to get together. It’s not a will they, it’s a when. 

[stormears]

I liked “Six of Crows” okay, and then I liked it quite a lot

It’s the first YA novel I can remember reading in at least 3 years, and I’m gonna spoil as much of it as I can. Word of mouth tells me the author is really well liked, I know she wrote The Grisha Trilogy which I haven’t read, and since the word is used in this book I imagine it’s in the same universe. 

I didn’t like it that much at first. A magical heist in a world of thieving and rather minor/weak magic seemed neat but I got sick of how quippy every character was, and how often their frankly limp sarcastic jabs/banter took the place of them having real personalities. There was also a lot of sentences written in this format of many descriptions ending with -ing separated by many commas, dragging out their meaning and metaphor-ing past its welcome, making me yawn and roll my eyes after the 5th gerund, taking too goddamn long, assuring me endlessly that the characters are from the meanest and coldest and underbelliest neighborhood around. 

But I haven’t finished a book in so long I wanted to keep to it. I used to read so, so often and I refuse to get into the habit of dropping books for basically nothing. It makes me feel like my reader soul will drain away. So I kept reading about the gathering of the six criminals for this epic heist, being KINDA invested and liking the idea of the world pretty well. My investment went up a noticeable percentage when Nina and Matthias were briefly alone to bury a body and struck up an uncomfortable but necessary deal to kill the guy the rest of the team is seeking to rescue. That deal felt real! 

Seeing Kaz suddenly faint in the prisoner wagon also made me go “????” and made my eyes zoom into the book like magnifying glasses. He went from being almost impenetrable to everyone to having a dramatic emotional reaction. Once in a while the characters showed some life and personality outside of their tropiness and I liked seeing them stretch! I was really feeling my 20s age bracket in how strange it was for the characters to have SUCH strong reputations for their age (17 - 18, all of them). Not like I don’t fondly remember being a lil younger and believing teen protags could do it all. I still didn’t care too much about that, but you’d think Dirtyhands and the Wraith had been skulking around the Barrel for the last decade at least instead of the last...2 years maybe, since EVERYONE knew and feared them. 

Once they were at the Ice Court, I read the heist in two big reading sessions. Things picked up a lot. I realized I was a fool to characterize Nina in my head as a fretful quiet girl who couldn’t handle stress well and saw she was actually quite boisterous, takes initiative often and lies very well (her flashbacks with Matthias were so laden with ~BANTER~ I could hardly take that as her personality). Jesper and Wylan were apparently working their way through flirtatious banter and not regular banter, and one or both of them was bisexual, that’s neat. I got a better handle on exactly how focused Inej is, in everything she does. And in my head I pronounced her name with the J on the end sounding like the beginning of Jacque, or Je nai sais quoi. Ee-NEJJH. 

Although I got real tired of her expressing fear of her past with Tante Heleen being represented as her fear of “wearing silks.” Like, I’m pretty sure Inej was sold to a brothel and forced to have sex with paying clients but this is almost always explained with silks silks silks sislsksl s islk sil k. Hearing that endlessly repeated didn’t make me think that she feared her past as a prostitute but maybe like she feared her past of scantily-clad modeling. 

Anyway the heist at the court was fun and suspenseful, almost always a new threat or obstacle that had to be dealt with. I was blank on ideas for what they’d find when they eventually encountered the scientist Bo Yul-Bayur and I sure did not expect them to find his unwilling/trapped son and hear about the dad being long dead. Once the alarm rang things just kept getting crazier and bigger in scale. I liked Inej’s random but yeah-I-can-totally-see-that goal to hunt down slaver ships. I liked the reveal of Jesper as having weak but useful magic powers. I liked that Wylan consistently proved he could pull his weight. I liked seeing, through infrequent but noticeable gaps in his “armor” that Kaz legitimately had feelings for Inej and it didn’t feel hokey or dumb, but reasonable given their experiences together and who they are. 

I loved that they got out by driving a tank. I loved Nina’s incredible sacrifice to become a heroin addict to save her friends, the noblest and most horrible sacrifice of all. I loved that once they escaped, their getaway trip was solemn and terrible and full of regretful but fond confessions. That was all so...deserved. At the very end, I didn’t care about quippiness anymore, because every prize and consequence felt deserved. It just took me a while to feel it and I’m feeling it pretty well right now. 

Oh, and I’m down for the KazxInej ship. It was wonderfully written that they care for each other but can’t be together due to Inej’s personal goals and Kaz’s refusal to open up 100% instead of the maybe 60% that he was willing to give. Both characters acknowledge this instead of leaving it to some misunderstanding and their regretful emotional parting after that felt great. 

The end of the story isn’t a MISUNDERSTANDING either, it’s a con gone wrong and it’s great too. I wondered how things would fall apart or to what degree. I fuckin love that Kaz briefly leaned way in to the trope of a bad boy con man or whatever and said the line I’m going to get my money and I’m going to get my girl. So hammy yet true and I can’t wait to see both things. Even if Inej isn’t exactly his girl, there’s no one better to rescue her and set her free to live her own way. 

I already ordered the next book. 

Oh yeah, in my head Kaz looked like the redheaded main character from Bungou Stray Dogs, and Matthias looked like Aone from Haikyuu.  

[remainingso]

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON KING OF SCARS???

HELLO FRIEND okay so uhhh i hope you wanted (-checks word count-) nearly 2.5k of meta. Because. That’s what I have. I clearly have so many thoughts on King of Scars. 

So without further ado, let’s dive in!!! (spoilers ABOUND like literally EVERYWHERE under the cut) 

To start: I wanted to love this book so, so badly. In fact, I find it basically unratable? I loved the first 50% with my entire heart and the latter 50% just felt like… the world’s longest disappointment. Ultimately I think this book could’ve been so much more, and the reason I’m kind of mad at it is that it promised me so many things that it never ended up delivering on.

So! Sections, because I’m articulating my salt, dammit.

on breaking open your world

One of the things I loved the most about the first part of this book was the sense of scale we were finally getting from the world. it made sense for Ravka to be isolated in the original trilogy—the whole plot was about getting rid of the Shadowfold to open it back up to the rest of the world. And we got glimpses of the wider Grishaverse politics in Crooked Kingdom especially. I thought King of Scars was going to finally be the book where we go GLOBAL in scope. I adored all the political talk early on—I genuinely thought we were building up to some sort of fantasy World War I! The Zemeni navy starting to challenge the Kerch hold on the seas! Messy alliances between the countries!

I wanted so much more of that—I wanted to know more about why there was war brewing. A lack of resources? The Zemeni new and hungry and eager for more? Fjerda wanting a holy war against the Ravkan Grisha presence? Kerch Greed? I wanted to see what Ravka looks like at war with something outside of itself. I wanted to see Nikolai struggle over how to protect his people and his land. I wanted to see him mess up. I wanted to see him make difficult decisions about how to govern.

Instead, I got half a book of…training montage.

And instead of widening the world globally, we got a lot of Lore.

(Just so much Lore. I really didn’t need to know the origins of why the Grisha are named after a diminutive of Grigori, man. That felt lame and kind of defensive after years of that criticism lol.)

Right off the bat: I didn’t like the revelation of the Saints being real. I didn’t like the weird in-between location Nikolai and Zoya spend literally half the book in. First of all, I never thought that Bardugo’s magic system was built on the most solid of foundations, and I think that this attempt to deepen the mythos, essentially, does more harm than good. I end up with more questions than answers: how does it count as mutual sacrifice when you make an amplifier if you don’t actually die and there’s one obvious dominant consciousness? How does it work that you can become one with an amplifier and then someone else can then become one with you+amplifier? Is there a limit to how many times you can do that? WHY were these particular Saints drawn to the shadowfold? And, beyond that, what are the Saints in service to? I think Bardugo tried to dig into the nature of her religion, but I don’t understand the fundamental Core to this belief system: who’s god? Without god, who are the Saints being martyred for? And when people pray to the Saints, what values are they purporting to uphold? I feel like these are all sort of central questions you need to make clear when you go deep into religious world building, and because she focused so much on the Saints without answering those questions for me, it ultimately felt kind of cheap and hollow.

And because Nikolai & Zoya are…basically stuck there for the whole second half of the book, we don’t get to see them actually interact with Ravka as it is? There’s a lot of narration about Nikolai thinking of what Ravka means to him, but that’s ultimately meaningless for me if I don’t see him make any decisions in service to her. He’s isolated and cut off from the government! This is a book about a King who never does any real King-ing.

the feminist aesthetic

This book has a very empowering aesthetic. And by that, I mean it claims to be empowering without actually supporting that with textual events. There are a lot of nice quotes about powerful women, but at almost every single turn, it undermines the power the women in the book have.

so Let’s Talk About Zoya

I love Zoya! I think YA needs more girls like Zoya, who are unapologetically mean, who gets to be ruthless and prickly and aren’t seen as wrong for it. I love that Nikolai clearly wants her to step on him. I love so much about her.

What I don’t love is how the narrative treats her.

I don’t like that she lets herself be drowned over and over and over, all so Nikolai can level up—and she doesn’t even punch him in the face for it after? She just literally smiles and lets it happen. Why does she have to be reduced to the precious thing he’s fighting for? Why does she have to suffer to force him to action? I love that Nikolai thinks Zoya can be Queen—but, does he really? He says he does. But he literally doesn’t listen to her a single time in the book. And she has good suggestions! Killing his dad? Would’ve solved their problem at the end where he aligns himself with the Fjerdans. Not listening to Yuri? Would’ve solved their entire Darkling problem by the end. Pick a bride? Stay in Ravka? Kill the Darkling at the end? All really good ideas! The book tells us that Zoya can be queen, and then spends the entire run-through relegating her to support role. What does Zoya do for herself? I don’t like that in order to have her “level up” they took away her power, and then had a man give her his power in order for her to thrive.

Okay so this line: “Men looked at her and wanted to believe they saw goodness beneath her armor, a kind girl, a gentle girl who would emerge if only given the chance.” I LOVE this idea so much. I love the notion of like a girl who doesn’t need to be saved, because she isn’t soft underneath; she’s all steel. But I can’t help but feel like the scene where Zoya confesses how she got her amplifier in the first place basically entirely undermines this concept. I thought, going in, that we were going to get a story about baby Zoya who snuck out in the middle of the night to stake a kill for herself, a baby Zoya who stole the tiger out from under everyone’s nose because she was wanted to show them all she could do it, and she didn’t mind the blood on her hands. I don’t like that we got a story about how she wanted to protect the baby cubs instead! I don’t like that this bonding moment between Zoya and Nikolai is one where she…reveals the kind, gentle girl underneath her armour. I didn’t want the story of how she got her power to be rooted in her secret maternal compassion for baby cubs; I wanted her to be ruthless. I wanted her to have killed and regretted it, maybe. I wanted that moment between them to be one where she tells him about her raw ambition and bite, and he understood that about her.

I’m not super here for all the… women have to suffer in order to Overcome vibe either? I mean it’s Bardugo’s prerogative, and I’m not saying it’s problematic or anything, but just that she has a history of making female characters necessarily suffer for growth (see: Genya, Inej) and I don’t like how Zoya’s trauma backstory with being exploited by a shitty man falls into that pattern. Why can’t she have been just angry? Why does she need a reason?

the shu han problem

I’ve had a long-standing issue with the way the Shu have been depicted in the Grishaverse, and this book did nothing to alleviate that. To start off, the strange Mongolia-China mashup culture is problematic in and of itself. In the Original Trilogy, we get the sole asian martial artist teacher trope full blast; not good! I never talk about this, but I actually hated how the Shu were treated in Six of Crows. I really do love that duology, but I sure don’t like that the Shu are…basically one dimensional villains throughout. The committee gets called “greedy” explicitly out of all the other committees present at the auction in Crooked Kingdom? Kuwei doesn’t get to speak for himself, and his entire storyline is basically a proxy for Jesper and Wylan to get together. I still don’t even know what his personality is like.

So I went into King of Scars hoping for…something more. Something better. And I mostly came away cold.

I still feel like we don’t know anything about Shu Han. Sure we know they have poetry. And a single instrument. But the matriarchy thing is so often used as a lazy shorthand to make a foreign country seem interesting and more foreign that I feel like it doesn’t tell us anything. What’s their word for Grisha? What’s their relationship to the Grisha? Are they evil, like in Fjerda? Wanted, like in Ravka? What’s their religion? What do their people believe in? Why do they want to go to war with Ravka? We’ve seen nuance in how a country can be a beautiful place even if its government holds terrible tenants: look at Fjerda. Why don’t we have the same nuance here? Sure, Tolya and Tamar exist, but they’re framed as like traitors? And on the Good side because of that? I don’t like that their number one allegiance is to a white girl, in the end. I don’t like that we got almost nothing from either Ehri or Mayu about their relationship to their country. I don’t like that Mayu was basically forced into helping her country, so we still have this… villainous view of the government & everything it stands for. I don’t like that Ehri is literally still a disposable girl, DESPITE that we supposedly have this matriarchy happening. I don’t like that they’re literally forcing her to marry Nikolai. I don’t like that they framing is the benevolent (white) protagonists, swooping in to save this naive princess from her monstrous home country.

I think Isaak’s POV is ultimately kind of useless and only there so we feel sad about him dying at the end. Functionally, we don’t need Isaak’s POV to know that there’s a fake Nikolai, and not much actually happens that only he can know about. Why couldn’t we have gotten Mayu’s POV? We know Nikolai’s elsewhere; so as soon as “Nikolai” shows up we’ll know he’s a fake. Why don’t the Shu get a voice?

the man of the hour

hey if you’ve made it this far, I’m going to talk about the Darkling now! (…yay?)

So this book spends like 90% of its run subtly reinforcing that the Darkling was Wrong and his ideas were dangerous and that overall he was bad for Ravka. it’s hard not to see this in a sort of metatextual bent—a lot of what Yuri espouses is what the fandom reaction to the original trilogy was and continues to be: That he could’ve ruled Ravka and led them into glory. That he was misunderstood. That he deserves to be worshipped. And I thought the existence of the Cult of the Starless Saint was a clever nod, a sort of guiding hand for Bardugo to reinforce the message of the original trilogy. That message being that like, guys, he’s kind of a shitty dude. And would’ve been a bad leader. I thought there was something really interesting she was doing here about how people always will gravitate towards powerful demagogues. That powerful men often are heard above all.

But I thought she was going to like… refute that. Alina’s entire war was to get rid of this fucker. The original trilogy told us that powerful men can be defeated. That who we should want to emulate instead are the girls who fight against them.

And now he’s back.

I can’t help but feel betrayed. I can’t help but feel like bringing him back, especially as the culmination of the book, reinforces the idea instead that, actually, the whole goddamn grishaverse revolves around him. That Yuri was right. Because he was. He was right about the visions, he was right about the return of his saint, and so what does that mean this book is saying about the voice of this powerful men? That it deserves to be heard? The Darkling gets the very last word of the book—it’s hard not to think that this is what the whole thing has been building up towards, in the end.

I don’t actually think that Bardugo is trying to say that we should all worship the Darkling. But I do think that this was a clumsy move that inadvertently muddles so much of what came prior—and for what? A cheap twist?

on expectation and disappointment

again, at the end of all this, my point is that the core of my issues is that the book simply doesn’t deliver on a lot of what it set up. It feels like I read two different books. I don’t expect this book to be perfect, but I find it hard to forgive a lot of the faults I find when the feeling I came away from was ultimately…dissatisfaction. I felt empty, finishing. I feel empty thinking about it. I’m just really sad about all the things it could’ve been—because I think it could’ve been so great.

There’s so much I loved! Like I said, the entire first 50%? Gorgeous, magnificent, showstopping. I adored all of it. The underground bunker! The science and magic mingling! Nina and Matthias!!! And there’s stuff I don’t really want to get into because it gets nitpicky lol (some logistics stuff with Nina’s plotline near the end). But basically I likened reading this book to feeling like I was on a rollercoaster, and super enjoying the cranking climb upward for the first half, and then, instead of the swooping, exhilarating fall, the entire track just collapsed underneath me.

So that’s where I’m at. I’m happy to talk about it and I really enjoy discussing the parts I loved! And I’m happy to field anyone who wants to tell me why they loved it, because, again, I would love to love this book. Please. Convince me. But at the end of the day, I’m sad and I’m mad and I’m disappointed. What a bummer.

[serpenteve]

The argument I see most often by Malinas/Darkling antis is “but he killed people!” Honey, do you understand how war works? They don’t exactly talk it through. Or “he committed mass genocide!” Like, did we read the same books? Because I think you are confusing the Darkling with Voldemort. Yes, he thinks otkazats’ya are beneath Grisha, but his war is not against them. He wanted to rule Ravka. All of it. He doesn’t persecute them they way they clearly have Grisha. If Alina actually got a hold of her ish and accepted her responsibilities, accepted she was Grisha and their problems were her problems, too, instead of being stuck into this self-denial and Mal obsession, maybe she could come up with solutions. Then, I’d condemn the Darkling. But since none of these ever happened and Alina chose to ignore her country’s need for her(and Leigh made her lose her powers because apparently women in power are bad, it’s better if you’re weak, because your insecure crush finds you beautiful when you can barely walk, and what else was she supposed to do without any powers anyway?) I’ll maybe not support, but totally understand his motives, however monstrous his ways ended up being. Because, in the end, he was the only hope the Grisha had left. Give me a good alternative and I’ll take it immediately.

And another thing I don’t get. Leigh created the Grisha as a concept. They weren’t pre existing lore such as, let’s say, vampires, which already have established rules and even they get sob stories in literature and somehow given redemption. However, from the first books, she treats Grisha as if they are indeed dangerous and hard to understand and kind of barbaric, not because they misuse their powers, but because they have powers in the first place. Alina was punished for reaching the peak of her abilities. Are we not (in real life) encouraged to fight to fulfil our potential? Is being lost in oblivion and abandoning a great future, because we want the comfortable choice, good? And I have to wonder; the Grisha are Leigh’s people. She created them, came up with the rules of their existence, put hard labour into making their world an interesting story to tell. Had everyone pitched against them until they have to hide for survival, even in neutral areas like Kerch. Then, why the hell, does she hate their whole concept so? Why does she condemn their efforts to be good soldiers, good at what they do, good Grisha, while otkazats’ya soldiers are praised for the same(Ivan was evil for being a good Heartrender and a loyal soldier to an Army that basically kept him alive, but Mal was an excellent tracker and was trusted by his friends and superiors and we have to love him for that). Why does she punish them for fulfilling their destiny, a destiny she laid out? Even JKR (who I don’t like for obvious reasons) created the wizarding world and it was obvious she was on the side of her gifted creations all throughout her books. At this point, I just think that Leigh basing the Darkling off of her toxic ex blinds her and distorts the narrative in her mind and you don’t get to have a personal vendetta against a character you created (which is totally understandable, but a character is not a real person). So it just makes it look like Leigh’s personal resentment toward a fictional character makes her cling to a childish character she views as the saviour, offering a simple and comfortable choice she wished she had(basically treating Alina as a self-insert). Maybe I’m overstepping, but that was honestly the vibe I got. I like Leigh, don’t get me wrong, but stop making the same mistakes Frankenstein did and love your goddamn creatures.

There's a number of problems with the moral landscape of the Gregverse:

She made the Grisha a persecuted group but then treated the Darkling like Voldemort when he was more Magneto

She set up all this lore about how the Grisha have no safe place (the Fjerdans burn them as witches, the Shu Han experiment on them, the Kerch used them as slaves) but the plot doesn't focus on Grisha liberation, it focuses on Alina killing the Darkling as if that would solve the problem

Her heroes are not compelling. She set up a noble-intentioned but unhinged antagonist, but her heroes don't match his energy nor do they even have the same noble intentions. They just want to kill him and get the plot over with so they can go back to chilling in their dachas

Alina is framed as being "evil" and "power hungry" when she literally does nothing to prove it

Alina's status as a Grisha is never fully integrated into her identity or her arc. She was Grisha for like 3 weeks, killed the Darkling, and then she was back to being a muggle. There was literally no character payoff to her discovering her powers.

The Grisha get called "unnatural" and their powers implied to be an abomination by superstitious Ravkans...............but that's exactly how the narrative treats them as well

Overall, I just feel like the implications are gross. The leader of a persecuted minority group gets demonized for using violent methods when peaceful ones haven't worked out. And of course, the people crying for more peaceful methods are themselves not part of this minority (or worse, part of the monarchy) but feel they need to dictate how the minority should demand better treatment. Alina is paired with a partner who spends the majority of the trilogy resenting her status as part of this minority and demanding that she go back to the way she was and in the end, that's exactly what happens.

[thebestoftimes]

50 QUESTION BOOK TAG FOR WORLD BOOK DAY

By me, Jess. I made this for world book day but then got depressed and didn’t post it on time lmao but here ya go kids be warned though it’s a long one. Also the numbers thing got fucked up and I couldn’t fix it.  I got a lot of these questions from other tags I’ve seen and google so if something sounds familiar... that’s why.

Who or what sparked your love of literature?

Aw my parents fueled my book habit when I was a kid and took me to the bookstore all the time and since then all my teachers have always encouraged me and made me love books even more than I thought possible.

Do you have an ‘odd’ book habit? (page sniffing/never leaving the house with a book)

It’s true that I never go anywhere without a book. I got one in my backpack or purse or reading on my phone but it’s always there.

Do you have a book that you think has changed your life? How?

A lot of books and series have made significant impacts on my life (like I can’t picture elementary school without Percy Jackson being in my life) but like as a person I can’t think of any one book that has changed who I am. It’s been a team effort.

Which book have you reread most frequently?

I think I reread Hush Hush every year lmao idk why

You can meet any author and ask one question. What author would you chose and what question would you ask?

I’d want to meet Shakespeare and ask him if all his characters really were just that gay or if we’re all reading too much into it.

Best book published this year so far?

It’s only March but The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Imagine you’ve started a book and don’t like it. Do you see the experience through to the bitter end, or are you able to talk away from it mid story?

I used to always finish what I started but now that I’m in college and have a mountain of a TBR I’ll just stop.

What book is top of your wish list/TBR pile?

Uhh A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos  is on top rn

Favourite place to read?

My bed. Boring but a classic.

If you buy books, do you lend them out? Ever had a bad experience?

Of course. No all my friends respect my stuff and return them promptly.

What fictional character do you ship yourself with?

So many but I think Gansey and I from The Raven Cycle would make the best couple.

Weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark

I use whatever near me so I might have done something weirder but lately I’ve been using tissues because I have a tissue box by my bed and never real bookmarks. But I’ve used graded homework, a toy car, a crayon, earbuds, etc.

Favorite quality/qualities in a protagonist and antagonist

Wow this is s hard okay for protag I am a sucker for like stubborn, smartass with a martyr complex. Sad but true. Antags I love a good morally grey character or anti-villain. Tragic backstory but smart as hell. The worst (the best). Characters like the Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy, and Warner from the first Shatter Me book (I know he’s a good guy NOW but back then we all thought he was a sadistic and sexy villain).

Favorite genre and favorite book from that genre.

YA Urban Fantasy babyyy and that’d be City of Bones by Cassandra Clare or Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare:)

  Best/worst movie adaptation in your eyes

Best: Harry Potter and The Hunger Games | Worst: Percy Jackson

Do you prefer reading your own books, or library books?

My own.

How do you choose your next book to read?

Literally whatever I’m feeling like at the moment.

Your favorite word.

I love many words but I have a soft spot for “lively” and “lilt”.

Book that got you hooked on reading/how you got hooked.

I’ve always been obsessed with reading but The Peter and the Starcatchers Series was like my shift from nicotine to heroine.

Opinion on dog-earing, margin writing, ect.

I only write in the margins of books I have to read for class/textbooks. And that’s for studying and active reading purposes. For any other situation: no.

Top 5 immediate to read in no order

A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

Most underrated book you’ve read

Definitely The Foxhole Court/ All for the Game series. Fairly small fanbase for some of THE most amazing books I’ve ever read. And the memes will have you in stitches.

What is the first book that catches your eye when you look at your bookshelf?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because of the exceedingly bright cover/spine haha

How do you arrange your books on your shelves?

LOL I do not have a system at all. I keep series and authors together and that’s it. Everything is placed where there is room.

You have the power to change a book’s ending. Which ending would you change and what would you make happen instead?

I’d change the end to Allegiant and SPOILERS SPOILERS not make Tris fucking die over her shitty ass brother. I know why she did it but like Veronica girl wyd with that. And I’d want the entirety of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be rewritten into a book that just focused on the domestic life of Finnick and Annie and no one dies.

Favourite book cover?

This is SO HARD. Either The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin or Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Which book from your childhood has had the most impact on you?

My entire personality was shaped by the Maxmimum Ride series by James Patterson. For better and worse.

When reading, what do you value most: writing style, characters, plot, world building, pacing, etc?

Characters. I think all of those things are essential and as I read more and more, the pickier I get, but I find myself leaning towards being a fan of a book when I become obsessed with the characters. Like hey!! New friends!!! For my brain!!!

Do you prefer buying books or borrowing them from a library/friend?

Buying them even though I shouldn’t. It’s a real problem.

What books/sequels that are being published this year are you most excited for?

SO MANY OH MY GOD

Okay some of these already came out because it’s March right now but I’ll include them anyways.

SEQUELS/ SPIN-OFFS AND SHIT

The Wicked King by Holly Black; King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo; Dream by Natalia Jaster; Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare; The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare; Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco, Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater; Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi; The Shaw Confessions #3 by Michelle Hodkin

FIRST BOOKS

The Binding by Bridget Collins; Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan; The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi; A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer; Romanov by Nadine Brandes; The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen; The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

Which fictional character would you want as a sidekick?

Percy Jackson because he’s my firstborn son and one of my favourite characters of all time. He is talented, smart, hilarious, an amazing friend, and the sweetest of boys (when he isn’t the sassiest of boys).

How many books have you read so far this year?

Only 15 I am so behind :(

What’s been your favourite read so far this year?

Oh man. Gotta be Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo :)

You’re stuck on an island with a suitcase big enough to hold five books. What books are they?

I probably shouldn’t cheat and say How to Build a Boat huh

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The King’s Men by Nora Sakovic

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

If you had to go out to dinner with any character who would it be and why? What would you talk about?

Will Herondale and we’d talk about books

Is there a book you have such a hatred for that you would throw it off of the highest tower knowing that the last copy of it will be destroyed so that not another living soul can read it or would you rather keep it and give it to someone else who might actually enjoy it?

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne or After by Anna Todd

Do you believe books make nice decoration?

I mean. I think they should be read before used as decor but I love showing off my books so I guess both. But I don’t believe in buying books for the purpose of decoration instead of reference or reading lol

Do you listen to music when you read? Or do you need complete silence? 

I need silence or low amount of white noise. I used to read and listen to Taylor Swift when I was a kid but I can’t do it anymore.

Do you have a favorite book? If not are you in the group that believes there are too many great books out there to just choose one?

I tell people it’s City of Bones by Cassandra Clare but in all honesty no I don’t have a favourite.

Do you sleep with books under your pillow.

Nope

Do you go to the library or do you have a book buying addiction or are you one of those lucky people who is able to do both?

I do both. Mostly bookstore though.

Own any book inspired clothing?

Yes. Several items :)

Have you ever read a book in another language?

I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Tristan and Isolde, and Beauty and the Beast in French. And parts of Les Mis.

Strangest book you’ve ever read?

John Dies at the End by David Wong. Still not sure exactly what was going on. 

Favourite type of non-fiction?

Memoirs babey

Favourite non-fiction?

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Favourite subject to read about?

History

Favourite book you’ve read in school?

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Favourite work of Shakespeare?

Hamlet

Character you’d love as a mom or dad or guardian?

Hmm Sally Jackson, The Women of 300 Fox Way, or Tessa and Will (they totally count because The Last Hours Series)

I tag literally whoever wants to do this and @fangirl-daydreamer97 @acleeds12 @iviisastrawberry @221bdoom @bicycles-bees-bisexuals @betterthanapit @dippindots126 @vlctorvale

[fictionadventurer]

For the book ask: 2-5, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, 30, 31, 33, 36-38

2) 📝 book that everyone has to read

Different books resonate with different people, so it’s tough to say that there’s a certain book everyone should read. Yet I can’t help wishing that everyone would read something related to Theology of the Body, whether they’re Catholic or not. In a world plagued by nihilism, Theology of the Body shouts that everything has meaning and purpose and the world is good.

3) 📕 favourite first book in a series

Ella Enchanted is technically the first book in a series (I’m counting the prequel as a later book). It was such a formative book for me and one of my all-time favorites, so it has to go in this slot.

4) 📗 favourite second book in a series

Goldheart by Kenley Davidson is my favorite book in the Andari Chronicles series. It’s a clever Rumpelstiltskin retelling, but I love it for its exploration of art and its portrayals of friendships that give people strength through difficult times.

5) 📘 favourite third book in a series

The King of Attolia. That moment where Gen reveals himself is one of my most vivid reading memories. The intense glee and shock and surprise and admiration I felt when I realized just how intricate Gen’s plan was and how beautifully it all fell together. It was wonderful and overwhelming and I’ve rarely encountered a moment that rivals it.

13) 🎥 favourite book to movie/tv show adaptation

The Princess Bride is obviously one of the greatest book adaptations.

14) 🎬 book you want to be a movie/tv show

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. It’s got the perfect amount of story for a movie-length adaptation, plus a great romance and gorgeous cinematography. I am begging the entertainment industry--the next time someone wants to adapt Anne of Green Gables, please adapt this book instead.

19) 👯 favourite female friendship

I’m fond of Eddis and Attolia’s friendship, how they try to give each other advice on how to rule, yet also relate to each other as women and not just as rulers.

20) 👯‍♂️ favourite male friendship

Since I’ve already said Mike and Psmith, I’m going to say Father Brown and Flambeau. Again, it’s a perfect combination of contrasts--the quiet, unassuming, little priest, and the larger-than-life, boisterous, romantic former thief, who is somehow the more innocent and naive of the two of them.

22) 👸 favourite princess/queen

I would say Eddis from the Queen’s Thief series, but lately I’ve seen some tumblr posts that are making me appreciate Attolia.

23) 🤴 favourite prince/king

Does Faramir count? I’m going to say that Faramir counts. By far my favorite character in Lord of the Rings. His moral strength is awe-inspiring.

30) 😤 character you loved but now hate

In Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy, Nikolai Lantsov was miles better than anything else in those books. I never finished the trilogy, but when I discovered she was writing a Nikolai-focused book, I was curious enough to read a summary.  A couple of sentences killed all of my lingering interest in Nikolai.

31) 😻 character you hated but now love

When Aurelius Harrow showed up in first book of the Galleries of Stone trilogy, I, like Tupper, wanted him to leave as soon as possible. Yet, also like Tupper, I grew to love him over the course of the book and was sad when he left. By the time I finished the series, Aurelius had become one of my favorite characters in all of literature.

33) 😂 the funniest scene

Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer is basically a sci-fi book as written by P.G. Wodehouse. The royal family winds up adopting this terrible, obnoxious kid (the son of an enemy ruler) as part of a political scheme (basically keeping him as a hostage). The kid turns this around on them by locking himself in his room with their son, and saying that he’s adopting the boy as his son (the two kids are the same age). The queen’s reaction to this left me laughing so hard that I had to put the book down until I recovered.

36) 🏹 favourite fantasy book

I’m going to have to give this one to Ella Enchanted.

37) 🚀 favourite sci fi book

Surprisingly difficult question. As much as I love sci-fi, I haven’t explored the genre as much as I’d like to. Strangely enough, the answers I’m gravitating towards are Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl (absolutely adorable and imaginative little story) and Matthew Stover’s novelization of Revenge of the Sith (The movie was terrible but the book is amazing. Regardless of its novelization status, it’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous literature).

38) 🌹 favourite romance book

At the moment, Persuasion by Jane Austen. I’m really paying attention to Wentworth and Anne’s characterization this time around, and I’m in awe of the depth of their characterization and how well-suited they are for each other, with all their strengths and flaws. It seems like there’s something in every paragraph makes me want to write an essay about it.

[battlestar-royco]

A booktuber who’s a fan of mess (acknowledges the pb and even made a rant review about it) said point blank that fas was a money grab that Rice’s pov was bad the only necessary thing was nesta’s pov and the exerp. That book was so bad that it pushed the ac0tar series off her favorites and she said she was pissed that mess and bb pushed k0a for it. She also said that if you put tab and fas together and you blurbed the name and told someone to read they wouldnt say that its from the same author.

Yeah, the last few SJ/M releases seem like she’s taking advantage of her audience who will buy into anything. At this point I feel really bad for stans who still expect anything better from her. We have every indication that AC0FAS is the least beloved of all of SJ/M’s books, and a lot of stans considered that a money grab as well. This thought just occurred to me, and it’s kind of out-there, but what if her excessive publications is like her tendency to overly contort her characters and plot to make one character/ship look good? She’s already shown herself to be incredibly out of touch with her fandom, so it’s possible that she simply doesn’t understand why people are disappointed and part of her strategy to make amends is publishing more. Maybe she thinks that what her fans want/need is EVEN MORE content, so she’s trying her best to compensate for their disappointment by publishing more instead of relaxing so she can learn from her mistakes and make her future books better. I don’t know, it’s just a thought. What’s more likely is that she knows that AC0TAR and T0G will always be her cash cows, and she’s trying to milk them for all they’re worth before she loses even more of her fandom.

I completely agree re: TAB vs FAS. I haven’t read FAS and I don’t plan to, but I much prefer TAB. It’s actually among my favorite YA novella bind-ups. I think it was a really good strategy to split one huge book-sized arc into five little ones because each story was very compact and purposeful (except the Healer–as I remember it, that plot structure and sequence of events was the weakest). Each story introduced new characters and elaborated upon dynamics and events we’d only heard of in T0G and C0M, like Sam, Arobin, the time Celery stole Asterion horses, etc. Before TAB, I’d never seen a YA novella do something like that. They were always like “this scene that was in book 1, but from the LOVE INTEREST’S PERSPECTIVE!!1! ;)” like with Divergent and Shatter Me, or myths and legends that expanded the lore of the trilogy, like with The Winner’s Curse and The Grisha Trilogy. So it’s clear that SJ/M knows or at least once knew how to write a novella with intrigue and plot relevance. But comparing TAB to FAS is quite telling in terms of SJ/M’s career trajectory. Basic sentence and plot structure, intrigue, and character development are all gone. The story is no longer concise and expansive, but meandering and focusing on redundant events. IMO, it’s a clear testament to SJ/M’s lack of imagination and the simplicity of the world and characters she’s trying so desperately to stretch out.