I admit I was not convinced about this book. After a friend kept insisting I should read it, I tried 2 times before I managed to go through the first I admit I was not convinced about this book. After a friend kept insisting I should read it, I tried 2 times before I managed to go through the first chapter. I'm really glad I didn't give up (Thank you, Leah!)
This is the kind of book that always makes me fall in love with the Young Adult Lit! So beautifully written, with some clichés (let's be honest!) and with smart plots! Where the romance is possible and it is present, but as a beautiful background for the story and not as the main focus. Just beautiful touches of feelings and emotions, painting the plot and thickening it... Background stories influencing choices and behaviours... It's really well done!
I'll try to make it simple and say what I really liked about it:
1. Complex Female Characters I really love the way Leigh wrote all the main characters. Giving a lot of details for each one of them. But I specially like how complex and strong the female characters are. How real and relatable!
We have Nina, described as being a roundy girl. She is always described as beautiful and seductive, someone who manipulates men flirts with everyone and uses her charms and slyness to meet her ends. And, guess what, NOT ONCE, her weight is viewed as a problem. Really, it is refreshing. She is such a smart person!
Then, we have Inej: a dark skinned girl, who is one of the most important members of the gang. She is so brave and skilled, never giving up even when a lot of bad things happened to her... I really love how, even tho we know she is brave, how (view spoiler)[petrified she was when she met Tante Heleen, that's what happens in reality when you face something that hurt you, something that made your life hell. It's how victims react! (hide spoiler)]. I also love how she asks Kaz to respect her.
2. The Others (LOL i'm sorry, but i love the characters too much) i had to make a special topic to my girls So, I'm basically in love with all of them.
I love Kaz, how his past made him the way he is... how emotionally constipated he is. I also love how realistic his reactions to Inej are. (view spoiler)[his reaction when Inej touched his cheek... how conflicted he was. REALISTIC, MY FOLKS. (hide spoiler)] He sometimes... gets on my nerves. He is too pragmatic. Too cold. Too... too much. He is hella smart and tricky! Well, he's a survivor! I loved reading his struggles... (view spoiler)[especially when it came to human contact (hide spoiler)].
I love Jesper (more than I thought I would). He is so funny and smart (even tho, sometimes he doesn't really act like it). I'm assuming he is bisexual and I'M HOPING HE WILL HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SUNSHINE OF THE GROUP because they are adorable. Sometimes I really feel sorry for him... How he feels when he compares Kaz's relationship with Inej and Kaz's relationship with him. I really like how much of a flirt he is.
Matthias! I really like his character development. He is so real. He is the guy who grew up hating a race and learns how to break the stereotypes, the ideas that were sacred to him... his own xenophobia. And that is so difficult for a person who had his education... i love how attracted he is to Nina and how much he fights against it!
And finally, my small ray of sunshine, Wylan. He is adorable. I love him... He is so intelligent, and innocent, and brave... It ends up being funny reading about him, sounding so much younger than the rest of the characters (even tho, they have pratically the same age)...
3. Topics shown and the reality of it The book also talks about some serious issues, not directly, but shown with the characters actions, reactions, lifestories...
You will read about addiction! Two different kinds of it and its consequences. The first, with Jesper (view spoiler)[and his game addiction. The constant loss of money, the need to have another "lucky night", the need of adrenaline, the lies to his family...) (hide spoiler)], then, with Nina (view spoiler)[when she is suffering the efects of the withdrawal of Jurda Parem (=quimical drugs): the physical effects AND the psychological effects. The lost of control, the need to have more... desperation, mood changes... (hide spoiler)]. It is really nice the author didn't make it easier than it is in reality.
You will read about Xenophobia/Slavery: How one race fears the other, how they want to impose their own power, to subdue the other... How fear and ignorance are connected with fear. (And this makes me love Matthias more. I love one quote he said to Nina: “They fear you as I once feared you,” he said. “As you once feared me. We are all someone’s monster, Nina.” <- it is not an excuse to the events described by the book tho.)
4. The adventure This book made me anxious sometimes! I was so over the edge with them! I wanted to know how the plan would work (sorry, Kaz, I'm not as smart as you)... and I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN JESPER PROVED HE WAS IMPORTANT.
5. The implications of Jurda Parem This is really interesting... the social economical situation gets totally changed if this drug gets... "real". All the fight for power, all the fear, all control...
The thing is: the characters struggles felt so real, the story was really entrancing, and with that ending, I just wanted to read the second book! So, that's what I'm doing now! :D ...more
Wow... What a journey this was! I didn't expect how intense this book would be! There were times I had to pause to distract myself because I was just Wow... What a journey this was! I didn't expect how intense this book would be! There were times I had to pause to distract myself because I was just toooo anxious!
To start, I need to reinforce this idea: the Storytelling is amazing! Leigh's writing is beautiful. She makes you fall in love with the characters, even when they are doing horrible things.... and she keeps you on the verge of your seat with how fast and complex the situations of the book are!
Now, there are a lof of things I loved:
1. How realistic the situations/reactions were and how trauma was dealt with How to explain this one? This is a fantasy book, full of impossible situations... and yet, I found some of the most realistic reactions to (realistic) problems I've ever read in a book. We have a character who can't stand the touch of others, we have a character who has a gambling addiction, we have a character who has a drug addiction (view spoiler)[even tho it is temporary (hide spoiler)], a character who has a learning disability, a character who was kidnapped, sold and used in a pleasure house... We have a group of people hurt in so many ways... and their personalities are so well written, taking in account all their past. I love that the author didn't romanticize the trauma of the characters... the pain didn't go away because they started to fall in love (on the contrary, it made things more difficult for their emotional state)... things didn't get solved with a kiss...
Which leads me to the second point: 2. Representation I already talked about this on my review of Six of Crows. It was nice to have characters with disabilities (Kas and Wylan), whom are treated with respect, learning how to deal with the shame people make them feel for having the disability, who are not miraculously cured. We have POC characters (Inej, Jesper and Kuwei), who are never treated any different because of their skin colour (i mean, between the group... because we see a lot of things related to their race). We have a character who is chubby and who is also described as the most beautiful of the group!
3. How someone with a lot of prejudice can change It is amazing how much Matthias changed through the books. His character is so important, especially nowadays. A person who was raised full of hatred against a race, a person who did a lot of wrong things in the name of a God/religion... a person who learns how to have a more open mind, to think of something he hated as something beautiful... even tho, it is always a struggle for him.
4. Jesper and Inej AKA my favourite characters Oh boy, oh boy! I was not expecting to love Jesper as much as I did. I love the boy! I love how funny he is... and how, at the same time, he is a mess, trying to deny all his hurt. He is such a complex character! The same to Inej, my brave suli girl... (view spoiler)[I admit I cried a lot at the end of the book when she saw her parents (hide spoiler)] . I love how she keeps her faith, despite all her circumstances... and, most of all, even tho she loves Kaz, I love how she won't ask for less than she deserves (OBvious, i love Kaz and Inej together).
There is a scene that really touched my heart, the scene with Inej and Jesper, where his gambling problem is not treated lightly:
“There’s a wound in you, and the tables, the dice, the cards—they feel like medicine. They soothe you, put you right for a time. But they’re poison, Jesper. Every time you play, you take another sip. You have to find some other way to heal that part of yourself.” She laid her hand on his chest. “Stop treating your pain like it’s something you imagined. If you see the wound is real, then you can heal it.”
Anyway, i'm already talking too much!
5. Other things :D better this way or I won't shut up Jeez, I'm starting to believe Kaz is Sherlock Holmes ahah I loved his plans, I was always behind him while he was scheming! He was cruel but at the same time, he showed mercy... I loved the ending for him!
Nina! (view spoiler)[It was really interesting how her powers changed. (hide spoiler)] It makes me want to read more about her and what happened... and about what comes after this...
Jesper and Wylan! Omg they were totally adorable! They made each other better persons... They respected each other, Jesper making Wylan Blush... AND I LAUGHED A LOT WHEN (view spoiler)[Jesper kissed Kuwei (hide spoiler)]... Wylan's reaction and his reaction at the end when (view spoiler)[Kuwei is inviting Jesper to go to Ravka (hide spoiler)] So much salt on that boy! It was adorable!
Papa Fahey! I just wanted him to adopt all of them and be happy!
The ending... so open but at the same time, giving us a direction of what would happen next... (view spoiler)[of course, I was expecting them to stay together lol... it was strange to see them part ways (hide spoiler)]
BUT, there was one thing that didn't make sense at all.
MATTHIAS. (view spoiler)[WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT DEATH? (hide spoiler)] I mean, really? So sudden and ... affff... It was frustrating to read it. It could happen in a different situation, in a different way... not like that... I just hated it! It looked like something just to create impact on the fans... and because (view spoiler)[not everything could be happy (hide spoiler)]
Anyway, it was a really interesting book with captivating characters! ...more
After a thousand years, I finally finished this book... I must confess I'm a little... disappointed may not be the right word... I was just expecting After a thousand years, I finally finished this book... I must confess I'm a little... disappointed may not be the right word... I was just expecting something different? Maybe I would change the synopses a little bit ... :D
There are a lot of things that I loved about the book, but It was somehow hard to get focused on it. I kept missing something... I think maybe I was missing some... more complex writting? This book, like Simon Vs the homosapiens book, has a very light style, even if it talks about serious issues, it talks about it in such a direct way, that it doesn't really open doors to second interpretations (not that this is a bad thing!) or thoughts. It is what it is.
But, no matter how i kept losing my interest, there are a few points that made me keep reading:
1. Indian Main Character I TOTALLY LOVE that our main character, Luke, is indian. CLEARLY, CANONLY indian (Luke keeps saying it), not fancasted indian... He is an adopted son, living in America. So, we get to read a lot of situations where people make ignorant comments that are quite realistic!
I loved the scene where he describes the cultural situation with his teacher: "In third grade, a teacher asked him about “his culture” and got mad when he talked about Spider-Man."
2. Diverse Characters And we don't stop with Luke. We have Eddie, an African boy, who is described as the "most beautiful boy" to luke lol... and Marcos (I TOTALLY LOVE MARCOS, FIGHT ME), who compares himself with "Manny from Modern Family".... It is just refreshing to have diverse canon characters where they are so easily described... and see, my dear authors? It is so easy to make it without really having to change the story, i mean, you can even add deeper meaning. Man, Harry Potter would make so much more sense if Harry was described as POC.
3. The Friendship I really love that we get the three friends. They have a strong relationship... I just wish we could see more about them. I love their familiarity around each other... and how they consider themselves as family. I also love that Luke struggles to meet them, even when they are important to him. It just shows how he is dealing with all the things that are happening... but at the same time, I hate how easy it was for them to not be present. Also, I LOVE THAT THEY ARE ALL GEEKS... SO MANY MARVEL AND STAR WARS REFERENCES!
4. Grief We can see Luke is grieving. Luke, who withdraws from his friends, who keeps feeling disconnected... who keeps just... going AWOL as he says. I like how present the feeling is, even when it is not that addressed in the book... you can just... see it.
5. Mental illness Oh dear, I love how (view spoiler)[Eddie talks about his mom! (hide spoiler)] how he defends her and, at the same time, feels guilty about some situations. I thought it was very realistic.
6. Racism Man, this is a big issue, especially at the end of the book... and it really broke my heart. How suddenly Luke gets so scared because what puts Eddie in danger is the fact that he is black (Or as Eddie would say: the reaction of people to the fact he is black aka RACIST).
7. Bullying We get to see it... in a strange way. There is a character who keeps harassing them and... he just knows how to push the buttons... It is almost background noise... you see the consequences, and there is some scenes where it is clear what is happening... I just wished it was addressed in a different light... but this is what happens in real life... things happen and get lost to a lot of people around you. And when things get quite dramatic (book and real life), it is easy to blame the victim for exploding.
8. Sexuality This may be one of my favourite topics of the book... Well, we have a gay main character, two bisexual characters, and... MY TOTALLY FAVOURITE, an Aro-Ace character (and boy, did i cry when I read that). I think this was the first book I read acknowledging an aro-ace character.
"This might not make sense to you, but I don't get crushes on people. I just don't." and suddenly, I couldn't get mad at the failed attempt of romance between (view spoiler)[Marcos and Luke (hide spoiler)] because it helped them understand how they wouldn't work... and I TOTALLY loved the comparison to Luke and Leia! :)
THINGS I was expecting to be different Why, people, why does Luke have a superpower?????? Why, how, for what? For kissing his boyfriend
Does it have side effects? I mean, the balance of the universe or something.
Why can (view spoiler)[Eddie be awake during the hold when everyone else, Marcos and Dee included, can't? (hide spoiler)] It was really confusing?
Also, COMMUNICATION, people. I feel like everything could get solved if they just...talked to each other? like??? It's kinda realistic tho lol
I feel like... nothing really ... got developed? I mean, it did but... I didn't really got the point of the story? Like... We get an open window to a part of Luke's life and that's it? It's just... maybe too young adult for me.
Oh wow, I'm surprised i ended up writing this much! This book just easily talked about a lot of things .... it may be interesting to younger readers, tho. ...more
I have to say that I was really happy to know I didn't have to wait for any of the books of this series! Because I would have died if I had to wait foI have to say that I was really happy to know I didn't have to wait for any of the books of this series! Because I would have died if I had to wait for this one after Ronan's revelation at the end of the Raven Boys.
I need to say it: Ronan is my favourite character.
So, of course, I WAS MORE THAN EXCITED to begin my reading.
This book talks about Ronan's gift . It allow us to know a little bit more (a lot more) of a fascinating boy, a boy who loves his friends and has a heart of the size of our world, even tho, he doesn't give off that vibe. A boy who is sensible when everything about his looks and his posture shows the contrary.
Here's a book about a character that helps his friends and doesn't show it off....
Here's a book that, even being about Ronan, pays special attention to all the other characters, always remembering all the details and not letting anything left to explain, but creating at the same time, a road to the final events, for the last book...
Here's a book about a Dreamer with beautiful dreams... but also, full of nightmares.
It was painful to read, don't get me wrong: The boy is full of secrets. The relationships start getting more intricate....
Also, hurray for Maggie's villains! They are not only the bad guys ... She actually treated them as people, with motivations, with doubts, with principles. (And come on: The Gray man and Maura are LOVELY)
Well, trying not to give away any spoilers:
It was so lovely to see Blue and Gansey's relationship... I love them!! They are so beautiful together. They really fit together and it was difficult to imagine them with other people, which was a surprise. AND OMG I'M SO HAPPY THAT THIS IS NOT BECOMING A BLUE/ADAM THING. I love Adam, but not with Blue.
And... Kavinsky... I liked him and it broke my heart his relationship with Ronan. At the end, he was just a lost boy with a big gift. It broke my heart his last scene, and how Ronan, our snake boy, tried to help him with all he had, to save K. It really allowed us another facete of Ronan. I admit K made me really curious with his fascination with Ronan.
I just wanted someone to hug Ronan and give him all the love he deserves, okay?????? ...more
Usually, I don't have the (good) habit of writing reviews. But I couldn't help thinking that this series deserved one. Even tho, this is one of those Usually, I don't have the (good) habit of writing reviews. But I couldn't help thinking that this series deserved one. Even tho, this is one of those books i know I love but I can't tell why.
This is one of those books that I started reading expecting it to be a cliché: the poor girl with a curse, the perfect rich boy, the perfect relationship... nice characters on the background... BUT... BOOM, guess what: This book is everything BUT a cliché!
It is a marvellous story about friendship, love, destiny, courage, magic... Every character is so well written, in such a realistic and complex way. It is impossible to not love them all, with all their perks and qualities.
It is a story that allows you to feel connected with the characters, to identify yourself with some of them...
It is a story where nothing is the way you think it is... where everything is possible and each chapter gives you a hunger for more.
It is written in such a good way: it can be serious and it can be funny.
I just wish we could have a tv show based on it!!! :) ...more