I have a wide range of books this week, but as you read through I just wanted to note that Chain of Thorns, the last book I discuss, is a SPOILER FILLED REVIEW. Proceed with your own caution!
Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook – Matt Diniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl book 3)
No spoilers
I honestly have been on and off reading this for the past like two weeks and it is mainly because this literally is the most confusing book I’ve ever had to read. Like first off with the disclaimer already alluding to it being confusing I was like okay whatever. I’ve now fully given up on understanding anything unless it’s being directly said because GURL what’s going on. I can’t even understand the descriptions of the trains anymore. And mongo gets mentioned fewer times because obviously he can’t fit in these g-damn trains. I don’t feel like this is really a spoiler considering if you looked at the cover of the book…there’s a train, Carl, Donut, and a dinosaur so….
I have nothing productive to say here, but I hope to come back next Sunday with a review/revalation aka figuring out wtf is going on actually.
Soul Searching – Lyla Sage – DNF
No Spoilers
I’m only on page 73 for right now, but I will say this book is sitting at about a 3 star for me. I see this author be recommended to people who enjoy Elsie Silver, mainly because Lyla has a different series of spicy cowboy romances. I haven’t read those, but I do love Elsie Silver and have read a bunch of her books over the past couple years. However, I’m not going to pit these authors together, as each lady has their own strengths that are unrelated to each other, and I mainly picked it up because it was recommended to me, as I read a lot of Elsie Silver, so I have in my mind pondered why I don’t love it as much as Elsie’s books. This doesn’t mean one is better than the other, again, I’m not starting a war between the authors, mainly just considering that the differences in writing is affecting my opinion and decision to DNF the book.
The writing in Soul Searching is very digestible and quick to read, which I find really nice in my romance books. This is not to say the writing is bad, or like not literary enough, because there are underlying themes of family and finding yourself, which don’t require 15 pages of description and interactions to get that point across. Overall, it’s a romance book not a classic, so I see why it’s comparable to Elsie Silver in the quick pace of it and slightly basic writing style.
Collins is our main FMC and she’s pretty relatable, and kind of puts a twist on the trope of having a “bad boy” in some romances. The MMC is actually the more sensitive and soft-hearted MC while Collins kind of takes on the “bad boy” trope herself. I like that aspect honestly it wasn’t what I expected and was a nice surprise to see.
This does lead me into one of my issues with the MMC though, and it’s probably just my own personal preference. He’s extremely shy and doesn’t really step out of that too much. He feels very under-developed. If this were a play on the typical roles being switched in a romance novel, I’d expect a lot more depth to his personality. Most of his interactions and development are basically in response to what Collins has said about him to his face. And there’s no identifiable opinion that’s his own when you read his chapters. His chapters are all his internal observations of Collins, but when they interact, he constantly stutters over his words, and, if he were an FMC, would be considered a “pick-me” type of character. I’m not sure how to best describe that trope, but Google is free and can provide a much better understanding of that characterization.
This isn’t to say I hate the MMC at all, but I genuinely hate the constant stuttering. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine in writing. Now, before everyone tosses me into the pits of Hell for saying that. This is my clarification. When writers take their assumption of what stuttering sounds like or would be like to interact with, it’s usually like: “u-um, y-yeah” for example. It’s not usually in situations of high stress in this book, and most times that this type of writing is used. The reason this is such a pet peeve of mine, is because it really inaccurately portrays those who do stutter in regular life in a regular scenario. I have never in my life heard someone stutter in the way the writer puts it in this book. This doesn’t mean there aren’t individuals who do speak like this, but it is significantly less common, and there are better ways to portray stuttering in novels. For example, Irl I have a few friends who stutter or trip over their words. 9/10 times it’s a result of 1) speaking too fast 2) accidentally merging multiple words together while their mouth tries to catch up with their thoughts on what they are trying to say 3) trying to speak in a foreign language and learning new words/words that can sound very similar 4) times of high stress and they can’t output their thoughts to encapsulate what they’re feeling. In all of these scenarios, there’s usually a moment of outward frustration from the speaker or they pause and restart the whole phrase. I do think that there are people who stutter as portrayed in this book. However, if that were to be included, it’s a developmental characteristic that’s part of their character. Both MMC and FMC shouldn’t be taking turns stuttering over the same phrases when they’re two severely different people with different upbringings and behavioral tendencies throughout the book.
I truly don’t hate this book and again, I have found so many fun lines and quotes I wanted to note down and remember later. If I were going to finish this book, I would include those quotations I highlighted and like my reactions to them, but I haven’t looked at this book since I read up to page 73 and I don’t find myself even remotely wanting to.
Reread – Chain of Thorns – Cassandra Clare (The Last Hours Trilogy Book 3)
MAJOR SPOILERS
“That night James slept like the dead, and if his father rose on the middle of the night to check on him as if he were a small boy, if Will sat beside him on his bed and sang to him in rusty welsh, James did not remember it when he woke up” pg 50
My heart is actually melting and broken at the same time because this is WILL omg I’ll never be free of the Herondale narrative. This was an insane like to casually throw in there 😭
“Matthew said. He waved cheerfully at the faeries. ‘it’s quite a tale, involving a duel, racing carriages, and a handsome prince of faerieland. At least he said he was a prince’” pg 52
Please tell me this is a Kieran reference. There’s no way it’s not…right? What an icon. The legend himself.
“‘Madame Dorothea is a medium,” said Matthew. ‘She claims she can speak to the dead – which all spiritualists claim, but she is a warlock. It’s possible there’s something to it’” pg 55
How did I forget she has eyes on her hands??? I actually freaked out reading this bc I love seeing all the characters make appearances. I genuinely was jumping for joy to see her. It’s so comforting to realize even though she goes through a lot later in the shadowhunters universe, she interacted with prior gens before ever meeting clary 🤭
“‘I know what it is like, to be gifted by Belial with something you did not as for, did not want.’
‘Lucie-that’s different’
‘It’s not.’ She whispered. ‘You and I, we are alike in that way. And I only hope -that I can always be as brave as you have been, bear up as well as you have-‘
He kissed her.” Pg 62-63
FINALLy GENUINELY I’ve been WAITING for this moment for SO LONG. My Lucie and Jesse heart is so full right now. Kiss your man homegirl!!!
“It was like the difference between having someone describe a color to you and finally seeing it yourself”
This is an insane description for a kiss Cassie wtf
“It mattered too much. That was the problem. With Ariadne, things had always mattered too much.” Pg 78
Genuinely Anna struggling to accept her love for Ariadne is so real but also like it’s gonna make the romance 2x better. Thank you Cassie for having multiple romances at the same time so there’s always a slow burn going on even when the main couple gets together.
“…, had blunted his feelings, he had not even begun to imagine the pain he could feel. He understood now why poets damned their hearts, their capacity for desolation and want….His mind had told him that his heart was broken, but he had not felt it, not felt all the jagged pieces of shattered hope, like shards of glass inside his chest.” Pg
This was so heartbreaking and also so fulfilling to see James reconcile his own feelings with the true reality he’s experiencing for basically the first time. He’s entering his pining era awww.
“‘We are not just here to forget,: Matthew said, ‘but also to remember that there are good and beautiful things in this world, always. And mistakes do not take them from us; nothing takes them from us. They are eternal.’ …. ‘If you believe what you say, remember that it is true for you too. Nothing can take the good things of the world from you. And that includes how much your friends and family love you, and always will.’” Pg 114
Just stab me next time I’m pretty sure that’s less painful than those quotes. However, as a chronically ill person, I find this particular conversation so heartwarming and a message we can all take away from the series and apply in our own lives, regardless of what else is going on with each of us. Cassie has such a way with words, that it’s hard to describe just why she changed my life when I started reading these books. Growing up with them has clearly impacted my empathy and her writing has also grown to match the reading levels of her audience, which, has benefited us much more over time. This is a ramble, but I genuinely can’t describe the depth of my love for these characters and their stories.
“Christopher was not handsome in an ordinary way and Grace knew perfectly well that there were plenty of other people, her mother included, who would have thought him not attractive at all. But Grace had known handsome men in abundance, and she knew outward beauty did not ensure kindness, or cleverness, or any kind of a good heart.” Pg 123
Listen, I’m a D-1 Grace Blackthorn hater okay. However, this is the ONE TIME we see Christopher actually perceived by a woman besides Cordelia and Lucie who were too wrapped up with their own stuff to have an opinion on Kit basically. But.. my heart HURTS because I know what’s coming and I actually will be staring at the wall in despair once I read that part. Like I swear anyone Grace talks to goes down for the count like I’ve had enough of her. Get miss girl OUT OF HERE.
“Someone who was wanted, truly wanted; she could feel it in the way Matthew held her, the way he said her name, the way he trembled when he gathered her closer, as if he could not believe his good fortune” pg 126
This is one of the most relatable scenes and internal feelings from Cordelia in the entire series honestly. I know myself and countless other women have felt this in some capacity, whether it be from the perspective of love, or friendship, or family dynamics. This speaks so much to a common feeling for so many people, and as this is a reread of the series for me, it was more impactful knowing that Cordelia does get what she wants in the end. She does experience being wanted, and if she were to have gone off the deep end into a relationship with Matthew she’d be repeating the cycle of her parents and struggling with getting out of that. This was such an impactful moment, even just towards the beginning of the book, and it resonates with me every time I see this little bit of writing. Cassandra Clare knows how to hit you right in the gut with her writing!
“‘I understand that,’ Matthew said, a little wonderingly. ‘How much love people have denied themselves through the ages because they believed they did not deserve it. As if the waste of love is not the greater tragedy.’ His eyes were a very dark green as he looked at Thomas. ‘You love him?’” Pg 195
This scene is so important to me because it’s one of the few times in this trilogy that we see Matthew’s full perspective on something. He tends to alter his responses on who he’s talking to and works hard to hide the more “real” parts of himself away. When he drinks it comes out more, but also when he’s alone, and separate from those closest to him (James & Cordelia mainly) he opens up a little. This scene also kind of felt like there similarities between Jace in the main series and Matthew here. More so when Jace is in peak angst by like book 3 of the series, but truly the similarities are uncanny (aside from the drinking obviously) but they both have those self-destructive tendencies.
“‘ I do not think I could bear to be let go by you, Lucie Herondale. I think I would follow you, even if you ordered me away. I am alive because of you, but not only because you commanded me to live. I am alive because my life has you in it.’” Pg 249
Are you kidding me. This actually broke my heart and filled it at the same time. Like this is Will Herondale level yearning. I fear Jesse had to be alive for only the 3rd book because otherwise he’d be in competition with James for biggest yearner of the series and of their age. We all know Will is the top yearner OBVIOUSLY but there’s a fight for second place clearly. Also please never separate these two it would actually kill me. Like I truly don’t remember anything about the events of this book, since i read it when it first came out but not since then until now. All of that to say like I’m terrified of what’s to come next here. We won’t mention that I do remember the big death in this book and that’s cruel and evil in its own way but we’ll get to that when I finally read up to that portion.
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