This series continues to fascinate me. I love the unique and complex world that Dabos has created as well as the slow and methodical ways that she develops the characters and their relationships, especially the romantic relationship of the main character. In this installment, she starts to exert her own agency and learns tremendous lesson along the way. I also love the addition of another character whose abilities and
precociousness greatly intrigue me. Sadly, only one book remains to read in this series.
The author’s note revealed what I had guessed at all along. Rasche does not come from an authorial background, at least not one of fiction writing. Instead, her academic research sparked a desire to write a fictional story with what she discovered. Sometimes this can work. Here, it just fell flat and average with the author’s newness to fiction writing – a very different skill than academic writing – shone through becoming the only thing of note.
This book blew me away. I happened upon it in the book room at school and decided to give it a try, later discovering that I read a newer book by this author earlier this year – The Mythmakers. This book tells the story of Deitrich Bonhoffer in a brilliant and stunningly impactful way. Hendrix skillfully weaves together the narrative with his artwork, creating metaphors that struck
home on nearly every page. This is hands-down one of my favorite reads so far this year.
Although I will likely never have the opportunity to become a mother, Thompson told these stories of mother – all kinds of motherhood – with such care and compassion. I thoroughly appreciated my reading experience and wish that many more would pick up this book.
I enjoyed returning to this world and this character, both first introduced in The Goblin Emperor. The main character’s role as the titular witness for the dead, as well as his own morals and choices, make for a fascinating setting for an unconventional murder mystery plot. I held back from a higher rating through because of the number of initially seemingly unrelated subplots which ultimately came together in the end.
They made it a little difficult – but not impossible – to follow the macro-plot. I do, however, look forward to continuing to follow this main character’s journey in the other two novellas in the series.
Even if I had liked this book, I likely would not have kept it because of the – in my opinion – atrocious cover design. When I opened the Caffeine and Legends box I got with this inside, I knew that the book had a difficult – if not impossible – task ahead to stay in my library. This book followed so many cliché tropes that I could predict most of the plot from the start. I really do not know why I bothered to continue reading. I do not recommend this book and will definitely not continue in the series.
