Goodbye

I don’t know what Shadowfever is, but I would not categorize it as a book. It’s one MC’s egotrip, And that MC is certifiable and should be kept under close watch at all times. I cannot even say that MacKayla irritates me, because I feel compassion for her – she is a sex-crazed, self-obsessed maniac with illusions of grandeur and some serious identity issues.

Darkfever, Bloodfever and Faefever are as good as I remember, but, come Dreamfever, it all goes belly up. I do stand by my previous claim about it being the ultimate guilty pleasure, due to Jericho Barrons. He manages to keep things afloat even in book 4. But come Shadowfever…

SPOILER ALERT (I guess)

I’m not a particularly touchy reader and it’s difficult to offend me. I’m mostly offended by bad writing and stupid plot twists. I treat fiction as fiction and am ready to suspend my disbelief as far as I can. But the treatment of rape in this series is just unacceptable. The fact that it seems to me that the main character spiraled into some form of madness after the rape might be my attempt to make some sense of it. I now realize that, after all, I am simply unable to overlook the fact that the rape is glossed over. That the person raped interacts and spends time with her rapists without any difficulty and that she has no issue with other characters reminding her of being raped repeatedly. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever read this again.

END OF SPOILER

Now I must go reexamine my life, because the fact that at some point of it I thought this book was awesome proves that I cannot be trusted. I thought this was the best book of the series.

Ultimate Guilty Pleasure

I don’t know have you ever come upon one of those crazy, CAPSLOCK reviews on Goodreads where a person of female persuasion gushes about a male character. I have. Many times. Most of those make me slightly concerned for the mental health of their authors. However, I do get where they come from because there is one such character that I’ve been crazy about for years. Regardless of the faux pas Karen Marie Moning made later on in the series, Jericho Barrons remains my only serious book crush.

I was a bit apprehensive, going back to the Fever series after being terribly disappointed in it, but the apprehension proved unwarranted. Jericho Barrons still rocks.

Let me tell you how much he rocks.

I’ve decided to listen Darkfever, having discovered that audio books are a perfect tool for someone who wants to read all the time. In it, Jericho Barrons sounds like an 80-year-old grandma. And guess what. He’s still hot.

As his first appearance in the book neared, I was giddy as a schoolgirl (yes, I could have used all caps to illustrate my anticipation). And then he spoke, and my body clenched. It was horrible. But guess what. Karen knows how to write and she has written him perfectly. Yes, it is a bit disturbing, finding a character that sounds like an octogenarian woman sexually appealing. But hey….

The cramped room was suddenly stuffed to overflowing with Jericho Barrons. If a normal person filled one hundred percent of the molecules they occupied, he somehow managed to cram his to two hundred percent capacity.

Halfway down the block was a denser spot in the darkness that I took to be him. It was impossible to make out his shape, but that patch of darkness seemed to hold more substance, more potency than the shadows around it. It also made me shiver a little. Yes, that would be him.

You can feel the energy sizzling and crackling in the air as the lines flop and twist on the ground, and you know you’re standing next to raw power that could turn your way with killing force at any second.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not all about Barrons (although it mostly is). Darkfever is a good book and Karen Marie Moning brings suspense and dread while at the same time creating a safe haven within the ever-changing world. MacKayla Lane, a superficial, self-absorbed character grows and grows up. At first I disliked her, then I kind of liked her. Then (as the series progresses) I started loving her.

The difference between Karen Marie Moning and, let’s say, Sarah J. Mass, is that Karen controls her story and she directs the feelings of the reader, carefully but without duress. She doesn’t force you to go along, she nudges you gingerly, gives you options and allows you to choose. And she is in no hurry.

Yes, this is fairy fantasy for girls, but this is well-written fairy fantasy for girls. The best I have come across and the only reason why I decided to read Holly Black (Folk of The Air is very good) and Sarah J. Maas (nope).

And now I will continue with the Fever series with apprehension. Because I know that Karen Marie Moning fucks it up. And she fucks it up real good.

!My Body Clenched!

Having in mind that there are a billion reviews of this book, instead of another one I bring you – my notes.

• detailed description of clothes – don’t care, also your hair – don’t care
• pure torture, lifeless, artificial
• I’m so fucking bored right now

• I think I’m going to vomit
• hahahahahahahhahaha
• STOP DESCRIBING EVERYTHING, YOU’RE NO GOOD AT IT
• so, Tamlin is a completely different character now? what
• I hate you so much, please shut up FEYHRHEHEHE, STOP DESCRIBING EVERYTHING, IT’S BORIIIIIIIIIIING
• waterboarding? nah, just play this shit to somebody and they’ll sell out their mother and their country
• hahahaha, this is so ridiculous, it’s kind of fun
• ARGH nobody cares, when is this dinner going to end
• interminable this dinner
• much characterization, wow
• I’m going to cry if this dinner doesn’t end
• the. dinner. is. still. on.

“and I went to the prison – whatever that was”

“she yielded her dinner”

• all the vomiting is awesome, really
• ah yes, everyone has a mama-san story, of course
• this is pathetic, this rushed explanation about why she abandoned Tamlin

“I remembered him, and not from memory”

• so, so ,sooooo much talking
• I really don’t like Feyre, she’s full of herself

“Some part of me reminded myself”

• characterization – just let a character talk about something that has happened to another character, that should do it

“My body clenched”

• did she forget about Tamlin, Lucien and the Spring Court?
• why is this book?
• STOP TALKING PLEASE
• it’s like Maas decided to change the first part of the book, but instead of going back and actually changing it, she just EXPLAINED what REALLY happened
• hahahahhaha, this is ridiculous
• NO. Please. Stop with all the talking, it’s not how books work. Please.

• oh. now she paints.
• how does something this bad becomes so big (twss)
• is something going to happen in this book? anything? please?
• if you have an eating disorder you should not listen to this

“glittering ebony power”

• please PLEASE, I’m crying

• the grunting and moaning, skipping this with glee
• unable. to. can.
• I really need to read the Fever Series again
• there’s a billion chapters and I think three of them contain actual plot

Oops, I did it again

I did. I took my sweet time and I finally got to the beloved ACOTAR. I was running away from it for a long time, but I knew I was going to get to it eventually. Like I got to watching Breaking Bad and the Wire, once the craziness died down. I am the type, the type that needs to see what’s the hype all about.

Surprisingly so, I get it. I get it because I read it and I enjoyed it. It’s easy, it’s simple. Unlike life.

The characters are ok, generic and unoriginal, but ok. The plot is ok. Kept me interested enough to wade through the initial irritation and start enjoying myself. There’s a lot of telling, but not much showing which made both characterization and worldbuilding seem blurry and undefined. Worldbuilding being by far the worst aspect of the book.

Occasionally, the writing gets in the way of the good parts of the book. I cannot get over things such as “the words caressing my bones”, “I/he/she/it loosed a breath”, and I really don’t need more than one “thick column of his neck”. Actually, I could do with zero of thick neck-columns.

I really hate when clumsy writing pulls me out of the story and bring me back into the real world, she bared her teeth and growled inwardly.

There were also some poor editing choices (or that’s what I’d call them). Not many, but unnecessary repetition makes it seem like the author thinks I am Guy Pearce’s character from Memento. Yes, I remember what has already been mentioned 200 times and how it might emotionally affect the character.

I don’t get two things. I don’t get the people who are obsessed with ACOTAR (or Colleen Hoover) and I don’t get what’s all the fuss about Tamlin and Rhysand. There’s a million of Tamlins and Rhysands, and at least a quarter of million of those are way more deserving of the attention Tamlin and Rhysand get. Jerricho Barrons, to name one of them. Now him… Well…

So yeah, A Court of Thorns and Roses is ok.

A Case of the Feels

• Title: Hollow Gods
• Series: The Chaos Cycle Duology
• Author: A. J. Vrana
• Would I recommend it: Maybe?
• Will I read part 2: Yes
• One sentence summary: Three people (sort of) are entangled and have to face a mysterious evil entity which has plagued Black Hollow for centuries.

I bought The Hollow Gods because a random person on my For You Page on TikTok recommended it. I do that sometimes when I’m desperate to dig myself out of a reading slump. And it worked. I went into it without knowing anything about the book, fearing it would be one of those fantasies in which world-building and plot are just an excuse for romance/sex. But it’s far from that. It is steeped in folklore and the writing is very good, albeit a bit inconsistent. Twin Peaks and American Gods vibes are constantly there, and the “visuals” are intricate and very anime-like. The story is interesting and captivating, even though I felt it was a bit jumbled at times.

The major issue is that one of the three POV characters was superfluous. The entire book would have been much better if Mason Evans was not in it. I did not like Mason at all. Neither his characterization nor his role in the novel were any good. It was shoddy work indeed. Inconsistent, illogical, and erratic.

I had to read the entire book to finally realize what it was that made it jarring. I realized this only at the end because I was still expecting Mason to be revealed as crucial to the story. I mean, his chapters take up 133 pages across 18 chapters – more than a third of the book. The expectation was not met.

Oh yeah, and I really do not understand why a third-person narrator would also have point-of-view narration.  Let’s look at a random example from the book.

“Ama was a few paces ahead, and like Kai, she seemed perfectly oriented. Miya took her in, scrutinizing her idiosyncrasies – the way she moved, how she reacted to sounds and smells. She was like Kai, but there was a sense of cohesion about her that he lacked. Like she already had herself figured out.“

So, why does this need to be attributed to Miya? The only reason I can think of is that this is a device that helps focus the author of the book, not the plot.

Another problem is that within Mason’s 133 pages are the only decent side-characters not directly involved into the unfolding of the events (not counting Patricia, Hannah and Miya’s parents who can be called characters only if you are very magnanimous).

Even though I did manage to figure out the major qualm I had with The Hollow Gods, I’m still having a hard time saying something definitive about why I liked it enough to give it a three-star rating. Books with weak character development are not my cup of tea, and the story/writing is not good enough to compensate for that. I guess I’m just suffering from a severe case of “the feels”.

Artwork by Wlop

If you’re looking for more awesomeness go to wlop.deviantart.com

She Danced Across the Centuries, Barefoot

Title: The Tombs of Atuan  Author: Ursula Le Guin Published: 1970 Summary: The second part of the Earthsea Cycle focuses on Arha, the Priestes of the The Dark Ones. She feeds them with the souls and bodies of Godking’s prisoners and is the only one allowed to enter the Labyrinth in which the Nameless Ones rule. With nothing in her heart or mind but rules and regulations of worship, fed to her from an early age by other priestesses, she lives a sheltered and barren life until a man, a heathen, a wizard invades the Labyrinth in search for the ring of Erreth-Akbe.

When she breathed in the drug-fumes to dance at the dark of the moon, her head grew light and her body was no longer hers; then she danced across the centuries, barefoot in black robes, and knew that the dance had never ceased.

In The Tombs of Atuan  Ursula’s (yeah, we’re on a first name basis now) anthropological background comes to the fore in the creation of the belief system of the Kargad Lands. Once again, the reader is treated to her amazing ability to create an entire culture, without  going into over-explaining mode which leads to absurdity. This time we follow the story of Arha, or Tenar, ever-changing, but constant, just like Ged in A Wizard of Earthsea. I disliked Arha, then I liked her, but I could always find reason behind her behaviour. If there was ever any doubt about the affection I felt for Ged, The Tombs of Atuan dispersed it. He i s powerful, yet  strikingly human and vulnerable; his power is mentioned only once or twice and for a reason – never to show off.

If I can hold off an earhtquake, do you fear to meet one human soul with me?

I cannot resist to quote a passage which, for me, embodies Geds character :

His face in sleep was stern, almost frowning; but his left hand lay relaxed on the dirt, beside a small thistle that still bore its ragged clock of grey fluff and its tiny defence spikes and spines. The man and the small desert thistle; the thistle and the sleeping man…

After struggling with A Wizard of Earthsea, I was a bit surprised when I found myself effortlessly gliding from page to page of The Tombs of Atuan. I guess it took the first part of the Cycle for me to get accustomed to Earthsea. I really, really, really loved The Tombs of Atuan (in case you didn’t notice). I enjoyed the stark beauty of it, the way the black and the white are used to paint all the nuances of life and civilization, as is often the case in Ursula’s writing. The long narratives such as the story of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, are written in a way that makes you want to know more; you want an entire book about it, not just several pages. Nothing is superfluous in this book; every word and sentence, each story told fit in. Only a few sentences are enough to fill you with a sense of calm or cold dread. The dark depths of the Labyrinth and the desolate desert are infused with such warmth and understanding, the source of which is possible to find only in the beauty of the language and the complexity of society and culture.

A Wizard of Earthsea

If anyone other than Ursula Le Guin wrote this book I wouldn’t have finished it. It’s slow-paced, thick with imagery and impressions. Perseverance paid off, because it’s precisely all that which made me think about moving on to something else turned out to be the most beautiful thing about A Wizard of Earthsea.

It’s unlike anything else I have read. There really isn’t any real plot to talk about, there’s scarcely any catharsis at the end. It’s just somehow there and it’s beautiful. It’s all about feelings and impressions, about fear and loneliness, about not belonging. There is only one comparison that springs to mind when I think about this book. Reading it felt like trying to run through water. It was difficult, but strangely rewarding.

What I love about Le Guin is the way she does not create new worlds. She just tells you a story which takes place in a world you didn’t know existed. She’s unassuming in her writing, careful with words; almost shy in her respect of the story she’s telling.

By far, one of the most interesting reading experiences I’ve had, and I’m looking forward to reading The Tombs of Atuan.

Interestingly, whenever I mention Le Guin to someone, if they’ve heard of her, they’ve heard of her as the author of “that fantasy novel…what its name?”. I’ve started with The Left Hand of Darkness, moved on to The Dispossessed and onwards to the Lathe of Heaven. I’ve decided to give this fantasy thing a go, and I was not disappointed. The future seems more bright knowing that there’s a lot more of her work out there, waiting to be read.

In the end, bear in mind, I’m not much of a fantasy reader, so this might not be the most representative review.

Proof of Reality