#tric: book review

[geekinthelowlands]

Wavewalker: Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood

Look, I don't generally review books. And this might be less of a coherent review and more just a thought dump. This is me just trying to organize my thoughts on it. I'll put this all below a cut for spoilers and also length.

Wavewalker is a memoir recounting Suzanne Heywood's childhood aboard her parents' boat as it sailed with her (Sue), her younger brother (Jon), her mother (Mary), and her father (Gordon) first from England to Hawaii and then between Australia and the various island nations.

Her childhood was, in parts, fascinating, terrifying, boring, and infuriating. Her parents were terrible: egocentric, obsessed with each other, and hypocritical. Namely, as she got older and wanted to actually go to school, they clearly projected their issues onto her. Calling her requests for schooling or other basic necessities 'selfish.'

Perhaps it's the style of memoirs (I don't read very many), but this felt, in many ways, falsely dispassionate. We got a relatively dry recounting of her life. One that the author hadn't really analyzed. I know you can't expect to get everyone's deep inner feelings about everything, particularly something that happened long ago or that may be contentious and bring up bad feelings. Still, we could've used more examination by the author into at least her own thoughts on the hows and whys of some of her family members.

As one reviewer on Goodreads put it, "[i]t definitely reads like she was afraid of her family's reactions while writing the book, though she says she wasn't."¹ She mentions in the epilogue that her mother threatened her and her husband when she said she was writing about her childhood on the boat. I'm not surprised; nothing about the (often cautious) way she wrote about her mother would have me believe this woman would be happy with anything Suzanne had to say on the subject.

I could understand that finding out the truth of some things, such as how truly awful her own mother was², may have wanted her to distance herself from the emotions of the book. I still wish she had gone into it more in the book. Her brother Jon was also such a minor character in this book. He gets about one sentence in the epilogue when she updates us on the various people she'd discussed. This is despite him living with her on Wavewalker until the two were deposited in New Zealand to struggle on their own for a year. She escapes off to Oxford, but we hear very little of Jon.

While this memoir gives a good idea of the realities of sailing and reinforces the idea that not all people should have children, it falls a little emotionally flat. I often found myself wanting more - more insight, more depth, more reflection on her interactions with her family members and the various people they took on as 'crew.' Suzanne couldn't possibly have gone into the hearts and minds of other people, but we could have gotten more to chew on about her own emotional journey as she broke free of her neglectful, self-absorbed parents.

Fairweather, Natasha (27 February 2024). [Review of the media Wavewalker: Breaking Free, by Suzanne Heywood]. Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6281274808. Accessed 04 March 2024

"My mother's decision placed my father in her debt - she'd sacrificed everything for his dream, and in exchange, he would take her side, even when she set herself against their daughter. In fact, she later wrote that she'd given my father an ultimatum - 'either she goes or I do' - before they'd 'off-loaded' me in New Zealand." Heywood, Suzanne. Wavewalker: Breaking Free. e-book ed. HarperCollins, 2023. EPUB.

[andreai04]

“A traitor’s just a patriot on the wrong side of winning.”

[europeas20]

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[literatureaesthetic]

5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"You've got words in your soul.” 

[resist-the-fear]

Series Review: The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff

Series Review: The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff #stabstabstab #darkdawn

**This blog post will have spoilers!

The Nevernight Chronicles is a beloved adult fantasy trilogy by Australian author Jay Kristoff. I’ve always heard about these books and how much people love them, but I didn’t pick them up until July of 2019, and I ended up reading all three (thank you to Edelweiss for an earc of Darkdawn) in five days. Epic fantasies usually take me much longer but I could…

[a-duck-with-a-book]

REVIEW // Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1) by Jay Kristoff

★☆☆☆☆

So I’m very late to the party, but I just finished reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff I had such high hopes for this series based off of what people recommending it had told me and what I read about it before picking up. Dark fantasy? Check. Strong leading lady? I’m here for it. Gays? It’s literally my only personality trait. Sign me up. Unfortunately, this book fell flat in all those categories. It reminded me a lot of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass, which made me take one point off of to begin with simply for making me think of Maas’s writing. Overall, I just found the book to be too predictable, with bad writing, exposition, and pacing, and too many parts that just made me ~uncomfortable~.

In case you are not familiar with this novel, Nevernight tells the story of Mia Corvere, a girl who lost her family when she was a child after her father was convicted of treason. When the book begins, she is 16 years old and embarking on a journey to join the Red Church, a school for assassins, so that she may one day be able to avenge her father’s death. Along the way she meets a bunch of forgettable characters whose names I can’t be bothered to remember and is taught by the most fearsome killers in the Republic. Here she gains many valuable skills, like how to survive being poisoned, how to fight, and how to get big boobs.

+ Side note: by chapter 3 three I started picturing Mia as the crow guy from RWBY and I could not shake that for the rest of the book

I had many issues with this novel that I will try to summarize in some sort of coherent fashion, but to be honest this book sucked the will to live out of me so I don’t know how much energy I can put into this review.

// image: official cover art by Jason Chan //

FOOTNOTES

The footnotes were probably the most jarring element of the book for me, and, unfortunately, there’s a lot of them. Their function seems to be twofold:

they are the form of most of the world-building, explaining several customs, the history of the institutions and peoples Mia meets, and the mythology followed by the people of the Republic.

they allow for the narrator of our story to interrupt with comical one-liners or cryptic foreshadowing

In my humble opinion, both of these are unnecessary and stupid. The interruptions come off as crass and immature and make the other more textbook, boring exposition come off as a joke, especially when it is dealing with sensitive or serious topics. There is one that explains this brothel called the Seven Flavors, which the footnote explains refer to “Boy, Girl, Man, Woman, Pig, Horse, and, if sufficient notice and coin was given, Corpse.” Now, on its own, this passing mention of pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia could very well contribute to the world building and tone of the novel, but when placed side by side with the childish, joking tone of the “cue the violiiiiiiiins” or, regarding the acoustics of a room, “…they were, as it happens, exceptional. Falalalalalalaaaaaaaa”, come off as way too light-hearted for the topic at hand. Maybe I’m being way too sensitive, but I’m pretty tired of authors using serious topics as off-hand remarks as a lazy way to make their world daker and grittier. Plus, these footnotes were just so incredibly cringy that I would recoil from second-hand embarrassment every time. They resemble the things I wrote when I was 14 and trying (and miserably failing) to be funny. Also… there are way too many of them. While at first I appreciated the attempt to deepen the lore of the story (I’m a sucker for world-building), after a while it became evident that the author was just forcing information down our throats without taking the time to actually weave the lore and background into the story itself. It came off as a very lazy way to force exposition.

OVERLY FLOWERY LANGUAGE

This story is BRIMMING with similes and metaphors, like every other sentence is some overly complicated way to describe something that could have been presented in three words. When you include so many metaphors/similes/etc., they begin to lose power. They should allow the reader to extrapolate more meaning and emotion from a sentence, but if the book is bursting at the seams with them, they become increasingly ordinary, to the point of losing all of their luster. One prime example appears on page 30:

“It was a bucktoothed little shithole, and no mistake. Not the most miserable building in all creation. [here there is a footnote about some other inn/brothel] But if the inn were a man and you stumbled into him in a bar, you’d be forgiven for assuming he had—after agreeing enthusiastically to his wife’s request to bring another woman into their marriage bed—discovered his bride making up a pallet for him in the guest room.”

So first of all what the fuck is that supposed to mean? That whole paragraph is a fever dream. Let’s begin with “bucktoothed little shithole”. Bucktoothed? Really? What does that mean. Please, someone explain to be right now what a bucktoothed building is. Is it uneven? Is it awkward? Is it half-finished? Is one side longer than the other? Did they do a bad paint job that only covers on side? Are the windows askew? Is the door too big for its frame? We already know from the paragraph above that it is “disheveled” as well, so why the need for another weird phrasing of its appearance? We then move on to that whole JOURNEY of a sentence, where the inn is compared to a man being cuckolded. That is the most insane tale-can you imagine running into someone in a bar and that story being the VERY FIRST thing that runs through your mind??? I know I’m focusing way too much on this stupid paragraph, but basically what I am trying to get at is that even though we spend half a page talking about how bucktoothed and disheveled and cuckolded this building is, we get no actual physical description of it. Imagine if Kristoff had just written that it was a run-down, ill-kept building that looked as worse for wear as its owner did. Done, one sentence. Great. Let’s move on. Instead, we spend so long reading these absolutely batshit descriptions that ultimately tell us next to nothing. Flowery language is placed over actual context. You may think that a description this long and complex means that this inn is a significant or recurring setting in the novel. Nope. It’s not. Mia leaves and that’s that. The reason that I’m focusing so much on this objectively irrelevant paragraph is because it is so representative of the biggest issue I have with the writing in this book. There are so many unnecessary comparisons that function only to make the author feel clever rather than add anything to the story at all. It’s very à la 2010s Tumblr.

THE (IN MY OPINION, BAD) WRITING

For the first half of the book, we are constantly being TOLD things rather than being SHOWN things. With the exception of one of the teachers cutting off Mia’s arm, we rarely see the ruthlessness that the assassins are so feared for, but we hear about it in nearly every other sentence Where are the consequences? I think this book would have been way more enjoyable if there were actually consequences to the characters’ actions. The inclusion of the weaver and the weird vampire guy completely remove any tension regarding the fate of the central cast. When Mia had her arm chopped off, I was shocked, and pleasantly surprised. How was she going to overcome this unexpected obstacle in her training? Then a couple pages later, its reattached with absolutely no lasting consequences. All of the initial tension and shock value of the loss of Mia’s arm is entirely removed because of the two incest-y siblings. Their entire purpose for existing is just to undo all damage to the main characters. Then suddenly, out of the blue, Mia is willing to take on a ton of consequences and completely throw away her chance at becoming initiated in order to avenge her family just to save Tric from receiving like one punishment??? Like why?? As an aside, the only moment I truly enjoyed was when Ash fucking stabbed Tric to death. I assume that when the reader’s favorite moment is one of the central characters’ death, it does not bode well for their reception of the book.

THE THEMES

TW: rape-y subjects

The author seemed a little too keen to include rape and sexual assault in his story. Mia withdrew her consent in the sex scene in the very first chapter, and even if you read it as consensual (which I do not), it is described as incredibly unpleasant on her end. Tric is the result of a rape, which is brought up several times throughout the story. Further, Mia is constantly facing harassment from men. I understand that this is frames the idea that the world she lives in is misogynistic and ruthless, but there are other ways to push that idea through other than constantly putting in her in those situations. As in, this didn’t need to be the ONLY way we explored this subject. Beyond the uncomfortable propensity for sexual assault, I also very much disliked the sexualization of the 16-year-old main character. Oh. My. Gosh. Mia is CONSTANTLY sexualized. Every single damn character makes comments about her body, how hot she is, how much sex she potentially has. It is so weird and uncomfortable. I feel the need to reiterate that she is SIXTEEN. There is, however, a focus placed on the power Mia can gain from seducing her targets. Girl power? Not to me, really. The issue I have with this is the idea that a woman has to be overtly sexual in order to be considered powerful. This is something that we can see in many female assassins and supposedly powerful female characters in fiction (like Black Widow) especially those written by men. Now, there is nothing wrong with using one’s sexuality as a weapon, and I’m certainly not saying that a strong female character cannot be sexual, but the idea that a sixteen-year-old girl is shown having her body painfully modified tp be more desirable, and in a graphic sex scene with another character, in order to for the reader to read her as liberated and powerful does not sit well with me. I don’t really feel like this aspect of her training should be relevant to the overall story. I wish the time that Kristoff had dedicated to hammering into our heads that Mia is a femme fatale to developing her Darkin powers instead. The way she is written now feels more like she is a faux strong female character written for a male audience.

Secondly, Mia is fully written as “the plain-girl-who-is-actually-pretty”. This whole trope bothers me IMMENSELY. YA is full of girls who are described as plain, forgettable, or ugly while their physical descriptions are just the dictionary definition of conventionally attractive. It seems like a way to market off of girls’ self-consciousness while still being able to market the main character as a hot heroine in official art. And there is, of course, the issue of Mia’s boob job Readwithcindy (just “withcindy” now!) did a whole video about this so I won’t get into it much just to repeat what she already said, but I agree that the idea of a 30-something year old man including this completely unnecessary detail regarding the sexualization of teenage girl, who we have ALREADY seen in a rape and being sexualized by other men in the story, made me really, really, uncomfortable. I highly recommend you go watch her video, as she touches on this in way more detail. [Cindy's video

RATINGS

Worldbuilding: ★★☆☆☆

A lot of thought obviously went into the world-the mythology, society, and politics are well-thought out. But the way they are introduced is annoying and bland. It seems like the author put a lot of effort into constructing this world but realized a lot of it would be left out of the book, so he crammed it into footnotes instead.

Tone and writing style: ★☆☆☆☆ for first half, ★★★☆☆ for second half

The tone of the first half is all over the place, like it doesn’t know if it should be dark and gritty or comical and immature. Footnotes and character dialogue ranges from lighthearted and crass to seeped with themes of torture and sexual assault. It is jarring, to say the least, and often feels like the author doesn’t take these ideas of rape or violence seriously. There are so many instances where the scene is tense or gritty, and Kristoff is actually writing it pretty well, I’m enthralled and on the edge of my seat, and then Mia or some other character (or the footnotes) throw in some stupid comment or make the same “Mia is such an asshole lol” joke for the billionth time and completely ruin the mood of that scene. The second half of the book moved much faster and was helped with way better writing, but it really did not do enough to make up for the horrendous structure of the first half of the book.

Pacing and structure: ★☆☆☆☆

The first half of the book really drags on. Once we arrive at the school, there are constant jumps in timeline, marked with periods when a thousand things happen all at once and the plot moves forward at a dizzying rate, and others when the characters just seem to be going about their daily lessons.

Concept: ★★★☆☆

I found the overall idea of the books to be very interesting, even though it is certainly not the most original or unique concept for a YA fantasy book. The issue is that the potential is squandered with a poor execution.

Characters: ★☆☆☆☆

I truly did not care about any of the characters. The token mean girl, the bumbling nice-guy-who-is-definitely-the-love-interest. too many of the characters just sat nicely within their tropes, doing nothing much to pique my interests. I think my favorite overall was Mister Kindly.

[hilarieburtonmorgan]

Ten Years Later, the One Tree Hill Cast Is Setting the Record Straight

Ten years after the finale of One Tree Hill, the actors Hilarie Burton Morgan, Sophia Bush, and Bethany Joy Lenz have never been closer. Despite their shared experience growing up on screen, the trio— who played Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis, and Haley James in the heartland-set high school soap for nine seasons—were kept largely isolated from one another during those years.

That distance began to dissipate with age, and when the #MeToo movement alerted the actors to some of their common experiences while working on One Tree Hill. In their new weekly iHeartRadio podcast Drama Queens, the three actors unpack the moments—nostalgic and traumatic alike—that unfolded behind the scenes of the wildly popular drama. To celebrate the podcast’s success, Burton Morgan, Bush, and Lenz joined us for a bit of reminiscing. —BRIAN ALESSANDRO

———

HILARIE BURTON MORGAN: Sophia, you were the person that called me about a podcast. What was the catalyst for you to be like, “It’s time”?

SOPHIA BUSH: When we first finished the show, I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to touch it. I didn’t want to be close to it. And then as time went on, and we all started being able to get together, and share stories, and talk some shit. We all finally told each other the stories we’d been afraid to share — I wish we’d been able to have the friendships we have now back then! — and hearing everyone’s stories really made me so furious. It lit that fire in me, and I thought “well, we just have to burn it down.” But, I also had to remember how much our fans love the show, and to realize that despite so much that was insidious we also had fun. We’ve shared stories about what was painful and hard, and I think especially because of what you were put through, I wanted to call you first and just say, like, “Does this idea feel triggering?” You said “No, this feels quite cool.”

BURTON MORGAN: What was your first reaction, Joy?

BETHANY JOY LENZ: I was definitely hesitant about more One Tree Hill anything. But the more we talked about it, I was like, “Wow, this is actually a chance for redemption.” Also, I don’t want to throw shade on the show that did give us amazing opportunities. I always try to temper my frustrations with a good bit of gratitude. But as for the bad stuff, I really do love the opportunity to redeem that. Some of it was us being young and stubborn twenty-year-olds, but a lot of it was the people around us who were using our youth and naïveté to keep us from arguing back. It was always, “Joy, you’re the odd man out. Sophia, you’re the odd man out. Hilarie, you’re the odd man out.” So we never reached out to each other. I’m incredibly grateful for the relationship I with you amazing women now.

BURTON MORGAN: I left the show first, and it was the divorce of my life, because I’d committed so much to being the good soldier. “I’ll do whatever press you want. I’ll go on whatever mall tour.” And so, the loss of that was traumatic. But the next relationship I got into professionally was with White Collar, and the best person I could have ever encountered was Tiffani Thiessen, who was an icon to me. She told me right out of the gate, “Don’t bad mouth the show that got you started. Defend your character, forget the bad guys, take what’s good.” That was such great advice. She was someone whose opinion meant something to me, because she’d been a teen idol of mine. Who were some women on TV that that you felt like we were trying to emulate while we were doing the show?

LENZ: I don’t think I ever really knew how to process it. I actually feel like I missed a lot of the excitement because I kept asking myself what it all meant.

BURTON MORGAN: I was the opposite! I like experience. But I made terrible choices.

BUSH: I’m with Joy. Now, I over intellectualize everything because back then, I was always soaking up all the experiences and I got my ass handed to me. So now I’m like, “What does it mean? What is it all?”

BURTON MORGAN: How many years out are we now? Like 17 years out from the first year?

LENZ: I don’t even know how to process that.

BURTON MORGAN: 18 years out? Jesus, we could have children in college at this point. Why do you think people still care?

LENZ: Comfort food. I mean, that’s it, like especially now that there’s so much content. I can only speak from my experience, but when I settle in to watch TV, I will spend 20 minutes scrolling before saying, “You know what, fuck it,” and turning on Frasier. And that’s what I watch because I know those characters, and I just want that familiarity. I honestly think the over-saturation has played a huge role in our fans’ need for One Tree Hill.

BUSH: And I would also say that there is something about how — as outlandish it got at times — there was also a lot that felt honest. People write to us about how they feel seen, how they feel represented, how they see their own struggles in our show. When I meet new people who are just discovering it and I think, “You could be watching anything! Why? Thank you?”

BURTON MORGAN: Honestly, having an older kid, and seeing the things that he’s drawn to, he loves watching TV shows from our era. Probably the same reason I loved watching Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie and What’s Happening – it’s retro. They’re mystified by it because there’s no social media on our show and so people are actually talking to each other. You actually had to show up at Karen’s Cafe to have that important conversation. It’s a wish fulfillment for these younger kids where they’re like, “Oh, my life doesn’t look anything like that.” We are the time warp, which is super fucked up.

LENZ: And we were also the last show that was doing, dare I say, wholesome content? I mean I know our show, like, jumped the shark several times in many regards, but in terms of the“hometown kids, middle of America, just dealing with regular emotions and life stuff,” those shows became very rare. Everything that came after us was like rich kids—Gossip Girl and The OC, and then it was all brought to a high-concept place like the Vampire Diaries, Riverdale stuff. And I don’t know that there’s anything out there that’s kind of gotten back to the roots, like One Tree Hill.

BURTON MORGAN: Can you imagine pitching One Tree Hill now? Like, “it’s about some kids. Two of them play basketball, and the rest are just moody.”

BURTON MORGAN: What episodes are we all excited to review the most? Some of them are cringey as hell.

BUSH: I’m sure a lot of them will be.

BURTON MORGAN: I like the Halloween episode we did at Tric [the “all-ages” nightclub]. That was batshit. It was 1000 degrees in there and everyone was dying and miserable and we’re dressed up like cartoons.

LENZ: I know. The one with the car, where they made me fucking siphon off gas.

BURTON MORGAN: That was fun cause that was really the first time the three of us were put together.

BUSH: Having to pretend to be high on pills when I never had been, I was like, “I’ll try!” Hilarie, your wedding episode was…

BURTON MORGAN: Christ.

BUSH: That was such a shit show, man. You said the Halloween episode — you’ll cackle when you see we did a Halloween episode after you were gone. And I had to be dressed up as one half of A Clockwork Orange, but was abandoned in my costume, and I was written to be dressed as a giant orange and Carol (Cutshall, costumer) papier-mached a workout ball and drilled armholes in it, and I had to wear it. AND I directed that episode!

BURTON MORGAN: That’s perfect! That’s a chef’s kiss.

BUSH: I had little T-Rex arms, being like, “well, if you go over there” – And they’d say “Where?” And I’d be like, “I can’t show you! I’m stuck in an orange!” It was, it was so humiliating. But when I think back on it, great comedic fodder.

BURTON MORGAN: What is your favorite keepsake from the show?

LENZ: I have the Julius Caesar book that Haley gives to Lucas in the pilot.

BURTON MORGAN: I have the leather jacket that Peyton takes after Ellie [Sheryl Lee] dies. That was an intense crying scene for me. My body has a physical reaction to that jacket.

LENZ: What’s yours, Soph?

BUSH: I have, like, a bin.

BURTON MORGAN: You have everything!

BUSH: There’s like this sad episode where Brooke celebrates her birthday alone in her room with a cupcake. I have the photo album from that scene, which is very sweet because it’s all photos of you and I, Hilarie…

BURTON MORGAN: You have that?

BUSH: Oh yeah, I took that immediately. There are real pictures of us from growing up, because it was this story of these friends who grew up together…

BURTON MORGAN: Joy, we’re gonna photoshop you in.

BUSH: Honestly, we should just make a new one. Of all the stuff that feels sentimental, that “Brooke Davis for President” pin kills me. It’s up on the wall in my office, because it makes me laugh. When I think about why that’s the one thing I’ve displayed—next to a photo of the three of us— it’s because it symbolized something that at the time really embarrassed me, but now I respect. Brooke Davis took the thing she was made fun of for, and turned it into an anthem. She was this bad bitch who owned her shit. That’s something I’ve tried to emulate.

BURTON MORGAN: One thing that I keep thinking is, “we deserve this.”

LENZ: Because we do! It’s hard to say that as women, I think.

BURTON MORGAN: What makes you two feel like we deserve this?

LENZ: Because we’ve worked our asses off, and because it’s beautiful to experience friendship with each other in a way that we were robbed of in our younger days.

BURTON MORGAN: We were really good girls. I’m excited to set things straight.

[bookofmirth]

I was reading some reviews of Darkdawn, just the bad ones because I loved the book and I love to torture myself and scream at strangers on the internet (in my head), and

One reason people kept saying they were disappointed was that Tric brought out the best in Mia, whereas Ashlinn brought out the worst, or represented her “worst” attributes (and so they wanted it to end with Mia/Tric).

Bitch. Ash wanted to live in a cabin by a lake in solitude, in domestic bliss with Mia, for the rest of their lives. That is literally the dream for any ship you could ever think of. Just peace and quiet and soft sex and tea. In what world does that equate to bringing out the worst in someone. They were all assassins. In a killing school. At a church that worshipped death. They were all out for bloody, bloody revenge in one way or another. And y’all are out here trying to say that someone was more morally gray or questionable than someone else? WHAT.

Also, may I present you with:

I want to be with you forever.

Just forever?

Forever and ever.

[thebookbandwagon]

Nevernight book review

magical assassin school

adult/new adult fantasy with a main character who’s a 16-year-old girl (ignore Goodreads shelving it as YA – that’s just Goodreads being dumb  – the author’s confirmed it’s not YA, and for good reasons)

revenge

a snarky talking cat made out shadows

shadow magic, poison, face weaving, learning to use weapons

violence. so much violence

whole cast of stabby bastards who make allies, friends, and enemies out of each other

mix of dark themes, action, and competition. bits of humour are sprinkled in here and there

very unique writing style (fair warning: some people find it offputting)

[video book review + illustration]

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is an adult/new adult fantasy story about 16-year-old Mia who’s seeking revenge on the ones responsible for what happened to her family. So she joins The Red Church, an elite training school for assassins.

But finding and joining the church isn’t the difficult part. In order to be a fully-fledged member, she needs to come first in one of the challenges each subject sets, and only then can she be initiated. The competition is tough. Incredibly tough. The Red Church has an astonishingly high mortality rate, and that’s not even when the students are murdering each other.

I’ve avoided reading this for some time because I’ve heard so much about it and didn’t want to set my expectations too high only to be disappointed, but then the book became available at my library and I took the opportunity to finally see what all the fuss was about.

The plot is a slow builder to start off with, every event and scene building and building until we reach the climax of the story and then there’s one hell of a payoff. It was one of the best endings I’ve read in a long long time and there were so many unexpected but satisfying callbacks to the beginning and previous events that made it feel very circular and tied the plot threads up exquisitely well, while at the same time leaving enough interest open for whatever happens in the rest of the trilogy. And the plot twist. I wish I could say more.

The characters were a lot of fun. There are a lot of side-characters so by the end I was struggling with some of the names, but still able to follow what was going on in the story. I wasn’t expecting the characters to be as witty as they were, but the humour never took over the darkness of the story, only providing a nice balance. There are lots of interesting dynamics between the characters who are all attempting to become initiates of The Red Church because they’re all in competition with each other, but alliances are often necessary to make and there’s this underlying awareness that the friendships and relationships they forge could all go out the window the moment they have to face off against each other. I don’t feel like it went into as much depth as it could with the side characters and their dynamics – that’s not to say that it did a poor job because it didn’t, that’s just to say I think there could have been a little more there without it slowing down the plot too much.

Here’s an example of some of the witty dialogue I was talking about:

“If I were going to name my blade,” Mia said thoughtfully, “I’d call it ‘Fluffy.'”

Tric snorted with laughter. “Fluffy?”

“Byss, yes,” the girl nodded. “Think of the terror you’d instill. Being bested by a foe wielding a sword called Souldrinker… that you could live with. Imagine the shame of having the piss smacked out of you by a blade called Fluffy.”

I enjoyed its use of tropes that seem like classics for the fantasy assassin school niche, but it also had lots of elements and details that made The Red Church feel unique.

The writing style seems to be the main reason people point to for why they didn’t enjoy this book. People who like very standardised writing styles that conform to sets of established rules might have a problem with how this is written. There are lots of sentences that feel spliced (eg/ ‘Mia tried to smile. Settled for shaking her head.’) and expect a fair amount of proclamations that begin with ‘O’. There were only one or two odd uses of figurative language that drew me out of the story because I couldn’t make sense of them (eg/ ‘his corpse beauty’) and there are some unusual dialects that appears within the dialogue. Most of the characters appear to have an American-sounding dialect, but there are occasional phrases and words mixed in that I found an odd combination alongside the Americanness (eg/ ‘aye’ and ‘lass’). Jay Kristoff also utilises footnotes, where he slips into the 3rd person omniscient perspective, and most of the more non-essential details about his worldbuilding appears in the footnotes at the end of each chapter, as well as some more witty observations about what our main character doesn’t know. The footnotes are great for people like me, who aren’t all that interested in extraneous worldbuilding stuff, since we can just skip them without it taking away from the story.

I found the writing style unusual but overall enjoyable. There were only a small number of minor things that didn’t 100% work for me, but at the same time I can see why people who are more strict about grammar use and stylisation might not like it.

Overall, I gave Nevernight 4.5/5 stars. It wasn’t a book I could read especially quickly, having to read in small chunks at a time, but it was one that easily maintained my interest throughout and felt so satisfying by the end. It was also my first Jay Kristoff book and I’ll have to read more by him in the future.

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Review: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1, Jay Kristoff)

Rating: ★★★★★/5

“‘Listen, girl,’ Aelius sniffed. ‘The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You’re a daughter of words. A girl with a story to tell.’” This was absolutely incredible. I am in awe of Jay's story-telling ability, his word-crafting, his imagination...literally every single thing about him basically. Mia Corvere watched her father swing at age ten. Watched her mother dragged to a hellhole of a prison, a fate worse than death, her baby brother at her side. She vowed then to become the best assassin she could, to avenge their deaths in any way possible - and that's how she finds herself, six years later, entering the Church of the Lady of Blessed Murder, set to train to become the deadliest Blade of all. However, the trials are only beginning for Mia and the other Acolytes, and in a world where murder is not only accepted, but encouraged, and taught, the path to Mia's revenge will be anything but smooth. This will probably just end up being one massive gush instead of a cohesive review, because I just can't believe how much I loved this. First of all, and always foremost in my mind, the characters. Mia is so wonderfully, darkly realistic. She has motivations that make sense, but she refuses to wallow, instead always choosing to grit her teeth and do everything with a ferocity that gives me chills. The cast of characters surrounding her is just so well-drawn and detailed too, from Tric to Ashlinn to Hush to the Shahiids to Naev, Adonai...literally everyone. They all have backstories. They all have a real roundness to them that makes them feel so utterly real. The world-building is absolutely fucking stellar too and deserves all of the attention alongside the characters inhabiting it. Jay has crafted this brutal, corrupt reality and, without overwhelming the reader at any point, fully drawn all of us into it. I feel like Godsgrave is real, and I feel like I would die living there because everyone has murder on the brain all the time. The Church is constantly likened to a murderous Hogwarts and really I can't think of any better description for it. We get these delicious scenes of life there, followed by these insane happenings that I could never predict, and it just feels so goddamn real. And Jay's writing style. Holy gods, his writing style. He always manages to be so INNOVATIVE. I knew going in that he wasn't afraid to play with format, but the footnotes still took me fully by surprise. Who writes fiction with footnotes?? The answer: Jay Kristoff, and he pulls it off brilliantly. Those footnotes give the story space to breathe, a moment for us as readers to collect ourselves in those quiet scenes and orient ourselves more fully in the world. I laughed out loud at numerous points from the details in these ("what noise do camels make when they run anyway") but they were also just so cool and refreshing and different. I just can't think of anything about this that I didn't like. Wonderful characters that tug on your heartstrings while also making you cackle with murderous glee, a world that is so dark and intricately crafted that it feels so real, some spiciness that comes out of left field and seriously leaves you wanting more, a dramatic tone that amps up so hard at the end that it leaves you breathless. No, this isn't YA, but my god, I'm so glad it isn't. I adored it. 

[shewholovestoread]

Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicles #03) by Jay Kristoff Review

I've laughed, cried, raged at the powers that be, all in the space of a few hours. Needless to say that I'm still processing the masterpiece I just finished reading. Everything about Darkdawn was perfect even as things were at their most painful. Let's get on with the review...

After waiting so long, the tale has finally come to an end and what an end it was! I'm still feeling gutted. Beware this will probably be spoilery, I don't know how I can discuss it without getting into a few specifics. Needless to say that having just finished Darkdawn, I am still reeling. I loved The Lotus War Trilogy but Kristoff has outdone himself with The Nevernight Chronicles.

Fair warning, Gentle friends, this is a long one.

A brief summary-  at the end of Godsgrave, Mia was finally united  with her brother, Jonnen, the same brother she thought dead. But the truth was far more horrible, Julius Sceava had taken Jonnen after doing away with Darius and Alinne and was raising him as his own son. And then things got worse, because not only was Scaeva Jonnen's biological  father, he was Mia's too. To compound the situation further, Mercurio had been kidnapped by the Red Church and Tric is back from the dead. Excited yet?

I won't lie, there were parts of Darkdawn that gave me serious bouts of anxiety, bad enough that I had to put down the book for a few minutes. But I've never been happier that I stuck with a book than I am with Darkdawn.

I've read a lot of series that start of brilliantly, the first and even the second book are great but many falter where the conclusion is concerned. You've built these amazing characters over the course of 2 books and now you must conclude their tale in 1, tall task to be sure.

Darkdawn is one of the best if not the best conclusion I've ever read. Deeply satisfying and heartbreakingly sad all at once. I firmly believe that Jay Kristoff books should come with a disclaimer "Not one of the characters you're about to meet are safe" I  learned my lesson the hard way while reading The Lotus War series and The Nevernight Chronicles and Darkdawn specifically doesn't disappoint in that regard, literally no one was safe.

Now, one might wonder, if that's the case, what's keeping the reader from staying un-invested in the characters' fates? But one can't truly enjoy a book unless one is invested, as a reader you must care about the characters otherwise what's the point? But even if one were to try, one would not succeed.

Kristoff creates such beautiful characters that you won't be able to help but fall in love. And it applies to both primary and secondary characters. Each character is crafted with such exquisite care that it's apparent.

Darkdawn was also so damn eventful with something happening every few pages that there was no chance of a respite. If you're looking to read something relaxing and light, this book is not for you. It will grab you by the scruff of your neck and take you for a ride. And once it gets going, it doesn't slow down.

Darkdawn is an emotional and mental roller-coaster with all the accompanying thrill one expects from such a ride. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I was looking forward to reading Darkdawn. Once we got close to the release date I could not concentrate on any other book so I gave up and just decided to wait for it and I'm so glad I  did. I tried to make it last and once work started, reading got slower but I finished roughly 70 percent of the book between last night and today. So much for savouring. But here's the thing, once you’re in the thick of it, it's painful to put it aside because I couldn't wait to find out what came next, whether these beautiful idiots lived to see the next turn or not.

Darkdawn sees Mia facing her old mentors from the Red Church and with so many enemies around every bend, Mia had no hope of surviving on her own. Our Little Crow has always had enemies but with every book, she also gained allies, friends. Friends who were loyal to her not out of fear but out of love, because she protected them when she didn't have to, when she risked her own life to save theirs. And that was the primary different between her and her enemies. Because for all her  darkness, Mia was good and decent at her very core, always wanting to do the right thing and it was apparent to those she saved.

Will I ever love a character more than Mia? Probably not, at least not till Kristoff releases another book. I love everything about her, her goodness, her decency, her selfishness, her rage, all of it. I love that she doesn't  pretend to be something she isn't, she hates just as fiercely as she loves. With everything that she had been through, it would have been so easy for her to become cold and callous, like the Shahiids at the Red Church. But she didn't, she kept going, always had a sliver of hope even  if she'd never admit to it.

I fell in love with Tric in Nevernight and then was heartbroken at his death, then I came to terms with it, only for him to come back  and with much flair and drama. He was a shadow of his former self, not  quite dead and yet not quite alive either. He fought his way back to Mia from the literal afterlife, that's how much he loved her and yet never treated it like an obligation. Like she owed him something because he came back.

And then there's Ash. Where do I begin with her? Words fail me. I won't lie, I fell for her in Nevernight and only fell deeper in Godsgrave but Darkdawn was something else entirely. I love everything about her, her brash attitude, her fearlessness, that she gave back as good as she got, her fierce love and loyalty to Mia. That for all of her love for Mia, she wasn't afraid of pushing her or calling out her bullshit. I loved how soft and vulnerable she was with Mia, letting her know how much she meant to her, like she didn’t have to hide any part of herself. She never judged Mia for her actions either, loved all of her, warts and all.

One of the best aspects of Darkdawn was the love story between Mia and Ash and I was so worried that Tric was back in the mix. I desperately hate love triangles, they're never truly triangles and I'm doomed to root for the one who doesn't get picked. But Kristoff handled it beautifully. For people like me who are wary of the looming love triangles, worry not, you're in good hands.

Our favourite Luminatii are also back and it wonderful to see them again, the whole odd bunch, I love that entire oddball group. We also had a pirate crew this time around and they were all delightful. Jonnen started the book as a spoiled brat but he grows on you, I loved seeing his growing bond with Mia. I loved Mercurio, that grouchy old fussbucket, being an absolute pain in the pass for the Red Church.

I would be remiss to miss Mister Kindly and Eclipse. Though they claim to hate each other, I feel like that that was just their way of interacting, hurling insults at each other. I absolutely adore their sass.

And how can I forget Julius Scaeva. He was a spectacular villain, a shrewd politician and a master tactician, he was a worthy opponent to Mia, matching hr wit for wit. I hated every cell in his body.

The sheer scope of Darkdawn is intimidating as a reader, I can't even begin to imagine how Kristoff managed to write this pure gem. I know the wait was long but it was absolutely worth it.

Anything I say pales in comparison to just how strongly I feel about this book and it's characters. The characters feel like flesh and blood, like they're real. I loved every minute of this book. I will revisit it soon, and perhaps this time I'll be able to take my time, truly savour  it, spending a few more turns with this spectacular group of characters.  

Never Flinch, Never Fear. And Never Ever Forget.

[jamiesshelves]

Book: Nevernight Series: The Nevernight Chronicles (book 1) Author: Jay Kristoff Pages: 429 Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) Favorite Quote: “The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You're a daughter of the words. A girl with a story to tell.”  Recommendation: If you like assassin books, dark plots, morally grey characters

Synopsis:

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves. Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

My Opinion:

This was such an amazing story! I was hooked from the beginning and loved learning about Mia, both in the past and present

I loved the characters! Mia was amazing, as was Tric, and everyone else was so well developed as well

Mia and Tric were such a cute couple! They reminded me a lot of Sam and Celaena from Throne of Glass

Everything that happened towards the end was INSANE!!! Jay is the king when it comes to twists and heartbreak in the end!

The reason this wasn’t 5 stars for me was solely because of the writing style with the footnotes. Yes, some were funny, but I honestly hated them. I got so annoyed whenever I’d see that a page would have one.

Full Review | My Reviews | Bookstagram | Ko-Fi    

[libralita]

Title: Godsgrave

Author: Jay Kristoff

Summary: Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

This book is not for the sensitive. It has a lot of cursing, graphic fight scenes and incredibly detailed sex scenes. It took me a while to read this book. I think it took me a while to get into it because I didn’t remember the first book that well. But after a three month break, I was totally hooked. There one problem at the end that made it lose a star but I still enjoyed this book and am excited to see the conclusion.

Why doesn’t the audiobook read the recap? It’s really helpful.

“I confess, I missed you in our time apart. And now, reunited, would that I could simply greet you with a smile, and let you be about the business of murder and revenge and occasional lashings of tastefully written smut.”

I always forget how much I love Jay Kristoff.

“Tragic, I know.”

I always forget how much I hate Jay Kristoff.

Again we’re starting with corpses and them shitting themselves.

“Aa’s burning cock,”—Page 5

Pleasant.

“But I was concerned you wouldn’t get the joke otherwise. …o, never mind. Bastards. What do you know about funny anyway?”—Page 23

This is like an R-rated version of Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alcatraz Smedry was the guy writing these footnotes and telling the story.

“‘I’m going to take my hand away now, love,’ Mia whispered. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to tie you up, put my clothes back on, and then slip out into the sunlight and you’re never going to see me again. Does that sound fair?’��—Page 26

Sounds profoundly stupid.

Having two daemons isn’t that great, apparently.

“But this is just business, Father.”—Page 48

I find her annoying already.

“…Well I am quite fond of you, if that makes a difference…”—Page 82

Aw, I love Eclipse. He doesn’t seem to be in the present, so I hope nothing awful happened to him. Something awful happened to him, I’m sure of it.

“‘…mpphgglmm…,’ said Mister Kindly. ‘What?’ ‘…He said mpphgglmm…’”—Page 93

Love Eclipse and Mister Kindly.

Oh shit, Leona is Remus’s widow. Small world.

“Aye, well, if you weren’t such a cunt, I’d find you more attractive, little Crow.”—Page 99

Aw, I kinda like Sidonius.

Now I understand why Mia is here.

I don’t trust Matteo or Maggot.

Ash just killed Jess. Fuck.

“‘Why do you think Scaeva isn’t dead already? Half the Senate wants him in the ground, you think they couldn’t afford to hire a Blade to do him over if he wasn’t protected by Sanctity? Julius Scaeva is a fucking bastard, but he’s not a fucking fool. He’s been a patron of the Church for years.’ ‘They’d never—’ ‘They’re assassins, of course they would! There’s no sanctity to what the Red Church does. They murder people for money. Half of them are psychopaths and the rest are just sadistic bastards. They’re not servants of some divine Goddess of Night, they’re fucking whores.’”—Page 124

Well, she certainly has the “half of them are psychopaths” right.

Oh shit, the Red Church helped kill Mia’s father.

“Nothing brings the familia together like a nice afternoon of slaughter.”—Page 138

Yep.

Go Sid!

Well Matteo is dead, so I guess I didn’t have to suspicious of him.

“‘No, the woman breathed. ‘I have a baby girl, I—’ No mothers. No daughters. Only enemies.”—Page 147

At least she’s not a complete idiot.

“…It occurs to me that recording this in a leger was a fantastically foolish idea …”—Page 152

Yep.

Scaeva used Mia to do his dirty work. Clever bastard.

“‘Shit cock twat fucking fucktail!’ ‘You swear an awful lot,’ Maggot frowned.”—Page 176

Really?

“Meet Briar and Rose.”—Page 195

Sleeping Beauty reference?

“Honestly, what kind of sick bastard thought this thing up?”—Page 210

Jay Kristoff.

I guess Mia has no real use for the black glass and would probably never use the white.

“‘…o, shit…’ ‘…O, SHIT…’ ‘O, shit!’”—Page 213

O, shit.

Ash tattooed the map to her back.

Wavewaker is probably my favorite character.

Poor Bryn.

“‘Maggots,’ the little girl replied. ‘I breed them in the shed.’”—Page 308

Ew.

THEY’VE ALL BEEN POSIONED!

Everyone I don’t trust dies!

It was the Magistrae.

NO DON’T SEND SID TO PANDEMONIUM!

“There’s no softer pillow than a clear conscience.”—Page 341

Damn.

“I thought you might want to hear something sweet, given what’s about to happen…”—Page 372

Well, that’s not good.

I don’t like how there’s parallels. That doesn’t seem good.

What? Mia didn’t kill them? That’s so cheap. Now I know who to blame for all those fake out deaths in Gemina. I think my problem with them is that they don’t last that long. Their deaths at most last about 30 pages and then surprise they’re alive.

A moon?

“Darken enough for four.”—Page 406

That’s not good.

Oh shit, I called that Scaeva’s son was Mia’s brother but I didn’t see that he was Scaeva’s son. So he’s Mia’s half brother?

Scaeva threw his fucking kid! What the fuck?

And Scaeva isn’t actually dead.

“‘And once I reveal myself miraculously alive to Godsgrave’s adoring citizens…’ ‘…They’ll adore you all the more.’”—Page 416

Damn.

Mia is Scaeva’s daughter.

“…Tric?”—Page 419

I guess his death was just a trick. See, Tric and Mia’s brother’s deaths were good fake outs because it took 1-2 books for it to be revealed that they weren’t dead.

[thebookcraft]

GODSGRAVE Review:

So a few months ago, I was #blessed enough for St. Martin's Press to send me an ARC of Godsgrave, my absolute most highly anticipated read of 2017. Well fast forward to now y’all and it did not disappoint!! Godsgrave is just as stabby and badass as Nevernight, if not more.

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A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge in this new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff. Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself. When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

What I loved most about Godsgrave is that it expanded the world brilliantly. In her quest to get revenge for the destruction of her family, Mia Corvere becomes gladiatii - a gladiator, essentially - in order to murder Consul Scaeva in one of his rare public appearances. The world of the collegiums (teams of gladiators basically) was a great addition to this already rich world. The action was brilliant--the end sequence was the best action scene I've read in a long, long time. The scale of these gladiati battles was perfect, sweeping and marvelous and oh so bloody. 😍👏🏾

ALSO HOLY MOTHER OF PLOT TWISTS BATMAN! SO SO MANY! The entire world is basically tilted on its head in this book, but it never became unbelievable. In fact, though I couldn’t predict all the reveals, they felt inevitable, which to me is a sign of great writing. 

Just as with Nevernight, Godsgrave is dark and twisty and sexy as hell. There is a new ship, which I don't ship quite as much as my OTP (Mia & Don Tric. 😣😭) but it's still quite great. And hell yeah for some bisexual rep!!

Rating: 5/5 stars! Top 10 books of 2017 for sure. 

[immortal-stars-awry]

Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff ★★★

Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff ★★★

“You’ll be a rumor. A whisper. The thought that wakes the bastards of this world sweating in the nevernight. The last thing you will ever be, girl, is someone’s hero.”

Wanting the UK hardcovers of this series is causing me such grief. They are so much prettier than the US covers altogether, so much nicer than the UK paperbacks. And. They. Are. Not. Available. Anymore. Ughhhh!!

I figured,…

[hello-missclairebear-blog]

NEVERNIGHT BOOK REVIEW | Spoilers & Non-Spoilers Included | Nevernight b...