Actual rating: 3.5 ... but I'll round it up because I'm nice.I guess I don't really ... get it.I've seen this book all over the place for the past few months. It has so many raving reviews from reviewers that I really respect (and usually agree with). There are so many people talking about how it's so amazing and the best YA book of the year ... so on and so forth.And. Well. I don't know, guys. I thought it was good, but to be honest I wasn't really crazy about it.Maybe it's because I'm not really familiar with Laini Taylor. I've heard her other books are great as well, but I haven't read any of them. Maybe it's because I'm not the biggest fan of paranormal romance (although when it's done well, I make exceptions.)But anyway. The point is, I went into this book with really high expectations. Maybe that's the problem. I was expecting something really amazing. And yeah, I liked it. I just didn't love it.Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of great things about this book. First of all, the writing is spectacular. It flowed so nicely, had beautiful descriptions, etc. That aspect of it was really fantastic.The world-building was also super great. I loved all the demons Taylor created, the whole demon and angel worlds, and so on. It was truly intriguing and original, and that part interested me.There were also some interesting themes about perspective. That idea of, "What makes someone/something evil?" That is, Karou has been raised by demons ... and in her eyes, they are wonderful, because they're the ones who have taken care of her. But she learns about the angels' perspective of them, about things they've done that she didn't know about, and so on. So, that brings up a lot of questions about point of view, and how it shapes our opinions of people.Where the book fell a bit flat for me was the two main characters and the romance between them.Honestly, throughout the book I never felt much of an attachment to Karou or to Akiva. I thought they both had really cool backstories and whatnot, but personality-wise, neither of them interested me much. They came off as being two flawlessly beautiful people who just got together because of mutual beautifulness. I didn't quite understand why they were initially drawn to each other besides their appearances. And then, I felt like they just kind of jumped from being enemies to being hopelessly in love with each other in two seconds. Maybe I'm just more of a sucker for longer, more drawn-out romances. I like to see things really develop over time. And for me, I thought the romance in this story felt a little rushed. So, in conclusion, I did like this. I might read the sequel, with the hopes that it will get better. There's a lot of potential in the world Taylor has created, the characters, the romance, etc. I just feel like it hasn't been fully realized yet. But maybe that's just me.
Flying Kick-a-pow!
Hi people! I'm Brigid, a college student and lover of all things book-related--writing them, reading them, reviewing them, biting them ... Yeah. I mostly read YA but I'm open to pretty much everything.
Actual rating: 3.5 ... but I'll round it up because I'm nice.I guess I don't really ... get it.I've seen this book all over the place for the past few months. It has so many raving reviews from reviewers that I really respect (and usually agree with). There are so many people talking about how it's so amazing and the best YA book of the year ... so on and so forth.And. Well. I don't know, guys. I thought it was good, but to be honest I wasn't really crazy about it.Maybe it's because I'm not really familiar with Laini Taylor. I've heard her other books are great as well, but I haven't read any of them. Maybe it's because I'm not the biggest fan of paranormal romance (although when it's done well, I make exceptions.)But anyway. The point is, I went into this book with really high expectations. Maybe that's the problem. I was expecting something really amazing. And yeah, I liked it. I just didn't love it.Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of great things about this book. First of all, the writing is spectacular. It flowed so nicely, had beautiful descriptions, etc. That aspect of it was really fantastic.The world-building was also super great. I loved all the demons Taylor created, the whole demon and angel worlds, and so on. It was truly intriguing and original, and that part interested me.There were also some interesting themes about perspective. That idea of, "What makes someone/something evil?" That is, Karou has been raised by demons ... and in her eyes, they are wonderful, because they're the ones who have taken care of her. But she learns about the angels' perspective of them, about things they've done that she didn't know about, and so on. So, that brings up a lot of questions about point of view, and how it shapes our opinions of people.Where the book fell a bit flat for me was the two main characters and the romance between them.Honestly, throughout the book I never felt much of an attachment to Karou or to Akiva. I thought they both had really cool backstories and whatnot, but personality-wise, neither of them interested me much. They came off as being two flawlessly beautiful people who just got together because of mutual beautifulness. I didn't quite understand why they were initially drawn to each other besides their appearances. And then, I felt like they just kind of jumped from being enemies to being hopelessly in love with each other in two seconds. Maybe I'm just more of a sucker for longer, more drawn-out romances. I like to see things really develop over time. And for me, I thought the romance in this story felt a little rushed. So, in conclusion, I did like this. I might read the sequel, with the hopes that it will get better. There's a lot of potential in the world Taylor has created, the characters, the romance, etc. I just feel like it hasn't been fully realized yet. But maybe that's just me.
Currently reading
Iliad
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
A Clash of Kings
Les Misérables
The Once and Future King
Fire and Ash
