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MASSIVE WARNING: this book contains gore and lots of body horror and the first story has mentions of homophobia and conversion therapy

Overall there were a few stories I really enjoyed, some that were okay, and some that weren't my taste. There was only one story that I felt was a bit too much and didn't have enough story to be satisfying enough to balance it out. I kind of wish some of them were longer just because the premise was so interesting that I wanted more!

Easily my favourite was the last one, 'Kindred Spirits'. it was the most narratively satisfying and although the least gorey, it still maintained a good creep factor.

The art style was interesting and really fit the horror, but still managed to portray cute or funny moments. There's so much incredible detail for better or worse. The author really has a talent for body horror lol

A definite recommend for horror fans!

I have mixed feelings about this one. While I think there's definitely useful stuff in here, it also has it's problems.

First off don't read this book if "overwriting" bothers you. Not in terms of tips, but in the way this actual book is written. The writing style really put me sleep, it's just a bit over complicated.

Second it's very skimmable, but that's a strength. It has A LOT of example paragraphs, but they're mostly from literary fiction and I personally didn't need them so it was easy to skip over them. Scan for the parts that seem relevant to you, because this book is for a certain audience and it may not be you.

That leads me to: this is for literary fiction writers. If you're the kind of person who idolises James Joyce and Hemingway, then you might vibe with this book a bit more than I did. It was really telling when the author mentioned that YA has always been a thing since before the label existed... and then listed examples such as Alice in Wonderland and Chronicles of Narnia... hmm

The chapters are broken into pretty respectable sections, so depending on who you are you'll find different chapters more useful, but I must warn you that the book is very short so you more get an overview than any in-depth information or advice. Personally, I skimmed the first and last chapter which where about getting started and revision respectively, just because they were less relevant.

The weakest chapter was plot which was very disappointing. There's a lot of interesting stuff to say about plot and a lot of different structures and models that COULD have been discussed or at least mentioned. Instead the majority of the chapter is dedicated to some metaphor about how conflict in books are wars with battles and two sides and blah blah. It really lost me and I didn't find it helpful at all. There are amazing examples of conflict and how it drives story in the rest of the book, but the plot section just went off the rails.

There's plenty of recommended readings, writing prompts, and activities if you're into that kind of thing. I'm not, but I can see why they would be helpful.

Overall, I did take away some useful stuff from this book, but it shouldn't be your one stop shop for writing advice.

[NO SPOILERS] // maybe more like 4.5??? // I wasn't sure what to expect but I guess it wasn't that

I recommend this book to people who like:
- just like a little hint of sci-fi, a bay leaf in the stew
- solving mysteries
- fast-paced books that don't waste any time
- unusual formatting and style
- characters who aren't likeable, but lead interesting lives
- a good dose of Weird af, seriously be prepared for weirdness
- an exploration of fame and how it affects people
(but also don't let this last point deter you, I usually wouldn't read this kind of book either!)

This book was weird and wonderful and kinda frustrating (April... you test me, but that's the point) and even a little emotional (in like a 'wow, what a powerful moment' kinda way). It took me some time to get through; I don't usually read sci-fi or contemporary so it wasn't something I was reaching for a lot. HOWEVER, once I would start reading I'd get really sucked in.

I think it's hard to say much more without having read the second book, which in my mind is more of a part 2 than a sequel. Seriously I have so many questions and I'm having a great time.

NO SPOILERS // 3.5 // What a ride

ACOTAR meets Assassin's Apprentice

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes:
- Fast paced books
- Morally grey protagonists
- Political intrigue
- Female-led fantasy where romance is barely present

I overall enjoyed my time with this book, especially around the halfway mark and onwards where things really started to pick up. None of the characters are likeable, but that's kind of the point. Horrible people doing horrible things to each other in an entertaining fashion.

The biggest let down was that the stakes and my level interest were so low for roughly the first half of the book. First instalments usually need time to introduce stuff, but that wasn't my problem. It was more that what the characters were dealing with just wasn't interesting, especially when you contrast it to the second half of the book. I definitely think the first half could have been a little more compact with he middle section a bit more expanded and the book would have been better for it. The only other thing that stopped me from rating it higher was that I found the world-building a little lacklustre. I don't think it was suuuper important for this story, but it would have helped in making the world feel more real and immersive.

Overall it was a fun quick read that I had trouble putting down so I'd definitely recommend it.

[NO SPOILERS] // 3.5 // oh... I kinda get it now
(read on audiobook)

This was SO much more enjoyable than ACOTAR. I really was starting to wonder why this series is so popular after finishing the first book which was mostly boring and underwhelming. This book was a HUGE improvement. We had:
- a much more well-developed and enjoyable romance
- a much more proactive Feyre
- the book kept the pace up (unlike ACOTAR which crawled along)
- the characters had downtime but it never dragged because meaningful things where still ocurring (e.g. character development)
- characters that were better developed and more interesting
- I really enjoyed the character dynamics, like it's one of this book's greatest strengths

But it's not all good I'm afraid...
3.5 is a respectable score (especially considering how low I rated ACOTAR) but I couldn't justify rating higher due to some non-ignorable pitfalls:
- sjm's wrting style is still quite repetitive and it still bothers me
- some of the sex-scenes were a bit too gratuitous. I know this is a romance, but it still has a plot and wasting time with sex scenes that aren't really there to progress plot or character relationships seems a bit pointless when there's SO many, some back to back. (that said some of the sex scenes were used really well!)
- So. Much. Exposition. there was a chunk maybe a third in where you get like 4 character's backstories dumped on you and then you get a whole bunch of lore and other world-building heaped on top of that shortly after. It's too much too soon, I even had to rewind my audiobook to replay that section because I literally could not absorb all that info at once.
- Which brings me to: too much telling not enough showing. I don't need to know everything at once, drip feed it I beg you
- If my above points didn't make it clear: this book coulda done with some pruning down to maybe 500-ish pages and not suffered too much. There's even some side-questy stuff that could be trimmed or completely removed tbh.

And lastly... Not a spoiler I promise, but the end happens VERY fast. I know it's leading into the next book, but it's all a bit rushed with six thousand things being revealed at once and zero time to stew in them.

I think I will give at least the last in the original trilogy a shot based on this moderate success. Don't count me as an sjm stan yet, but like I kinda get it.

[NO SPOILERS]

I really didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I had been falling out of love with YA somewhat and this book reminded me why it's one of my favourite genres. There's kind of everything I love:
- found family
- amazing and complicated characters
- great use of multiple perspectives
- creepy stuff!!!!

It is slow to start with because it takes time to set things up and introduce all the characters but by the halfway point the ball starts rolling and just picks up speed from there.
A few notes for people concerned about the blurb: Blue isn't really the main character, it is very much an ensemble and Blue isn't really the typical YA heroine either (in a good way). Also, romance exists in the book, but is quite limited and not really the point of the first book. Additionally, it's not really fantasy in the traditional sense; I would call it paranormal or supernatural so if you want psychics and bones and ley-lines, that's plenty of that.

This could have been great... with some harsh editing [spoiler free]

TL;DR: Parts of this were four stars (the action scenes mostly, some of the shinigami), some of it was three stars (the stuff with school and the parents), but a lot of it was only one or two stars (the romance, the pacing, the writing style, characterisation and character development).

If you're intrigued by a Japanese inspired urban fantasy, just know that it's a very average YA fantasy book underneath all that aesthetic.

The worst part was probably the writing style. It was overly descriptive in terms of its use of metaphors that were often clumsy, did nothing to add to the scene, or made it difficult to tell if it was a metaphor or literal. My least favourite was "(a scream/shriek) pierced my eardrums like a sharpened pencil" which um yeah not great. The overuse of italicising words was a bit much as well.

The pacing was horrendous. It started off very strong and then quickly deteriorated in the second third. The romance stuff felt like it dragged everything to a halt every time it popped up and simply didn't need to be in the book at all. It was unsatisfying and ham-fisted. A lot of the middle third is also occupied by not much being accomplished at all and constantly reminds you of it too. It is incredibly repetitive and treats the reader like they can't remember the most basic plot-points from chapter to chapter. Random scenes happened with little to no explanation that often take up no more than a paragraph leaving you wondering "what just happened and was it important???" and then NEVER comes up again.

The protagonist (Kira) has such inconsistent characterisation. For the first two thirds of the book she flip flops between being "shy, awkward, traumatised girl who doesn't know how to stand up for herself" and "badass priestess who gets things done". It would be fine if this was character development, but she switches between the two constantly until in the last third she is more consistently the latter (not that it feels entirely earned). Most of the other characters were a bit one dimensional or under-developed imo. Obei Katayama was the most interesting character by far.

[spoiler-ish!] The best part was easily the last third and the entire climax. I don't think it was perfect, but it still wrapped up things in a satisfying way and as mentioned, the fight scenes were easily the most well done portions.

I really fell in love with this book

[this is not my original review, but I've gotten better(?) at writing reviews and the old one made me cringe. this version was written in May 2021]

This book was delight for the following reasons:
- Romance with actual character chemistry and no insta-love
- Both the MC and love interest are interesting and have a personality
- It was way funnier than I expected it to be? like a YA fantasy romance author who can do comedy and not detract from the seriousness???? we love to see it
- Whimsical, fairytale-esque vibes
- For once I enjoyed very descriptive writing? maybe I don't dislike descriptive writing and just a lot of authors tend to do a bad job. Like it was genuinely one of my favourite things about this book
- Immersive as heck!!!
- The plot unfolded in pretty logical and satisfying ways without ever being predictable
- There were stakes that I cared about. I NEEDED to know what happened next

The only negative things that I have to say about it are:
1. It was too short lol. I liked that it was short sharp and shiny, but I just loved it too much to want it to ever be over

{Reread Jun 2022}
This is just a really solid book. reread it as an audiobook because I needed a refresher going into the next book in the series and I just really enjoyed it. It's so comforting despite the more emotionally challenging scenes, and I can relate to Fitz so much and his journey of growing up trying to figure out who he is. A lot of the worldbuilding still goes over my head, but I at least can appreciate how unique it is.

{original review December 2020}

I liked it I think?

It's such an odd book because there's no main plot-line aside from watching the main character grow up, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the main character and to slowly discover the setting. It was a tad slow-moving at times and I didn't find it to be a page turner so I couldn't give it 5, but it makes me really hopeful for the rest of the series once it starts to pick up a bit.