ClareR (5885 KP) rated Babel: An Arcane History in Books
Feb 14, 2023
Robin Swift is brought to England by a mysterious Englishman after he is orphaned in Canton. The Englishman educates him, and then sends Robin to Babel to continue his studies. But is Babel everything that Robin wants or expects it to be?
This truly imaginative novel looks at colonialism, the power of language, resistance and sacrifice.
I loved the narration as well, it really added to the story, I felt, particularly the footnotes that were inserted into the rest of the dialogue explaining pronunciation and etymology (I really liked these parts, more than is normal or socially acceptable, probably! 🤭). I’ll admit that there were some mispronunciations of the Oxford colleges which would have been easy to avoid (I have to admit to mainly learning how to pronounce them by watching University Challenge 😆).
If you love language, languages (I do!), fantasy and an alternative history, then this will really appeal to you.
I do feel that I should have finished the book having learnt at least one more language though. Ah well 🤷🏼♀️
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Merissa (12929 KP) rated Tau's Pride: Sacrifice in Books
Oct 26, 2017
You may remember that I fell out with Cole in the last book. Well, he is making efforts to redeem himself, but to be completely honest, it's not really working with me. Then again, I have always been biased towards Harry. The fallout/effect from the last book is shown in this one, with the affects being far-reaching to everyone connected to Regina. I love that woman, I really do, but she really needs to start focusing on the bigger picture. She has so much help on hand, people who love her, that I wish she could take a moment to simply breathe. Actually, I related to Olivia in this book A LOT! There is always drama, always some crisis going on, and as for who is with who - well, I've actually given up on that now. I just figure that they are all together, in one way, shape, or form, and that will have to do. With so many characters, new and old, all interlinked in so many different ways, I just can't keep track in my mind over who is with whom! Another thing that Olivia mentioned is the fact that it is now the Pride, not the Pack. In fact, the pack is now given a lower-case when it's mentioned. I get that they are doing something completely new, and with new comes chaos, but I do feel a sense of sorrow that the cats seem to be taking over.
Now, with that all being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, and read it in one sitting. You have bad guys, you have good guys, and then you have bad guys that you actually feel sorry for and want to help (Victoria and Simon anyone?). This book is extremely well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow. The scenes also smoothly flow from one to the next without any jarring. The world building is amazing, and I am in awe of these two authors for not only providing such a distinctive story, but in a world is intricate and intriguing, and it will keep you turning the pages. Definitely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Natacha (374 KP) rated The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) in Books
Jul 9, 2019 (Updated Jul 13, 2019)
Things that I liked:
-Lia is taking control of her destiny and do everything she can to save her people. As with the previous books is a strong female character, with personality and a big heart.
- We keep seeing how Lia is still attached to Venda and is also willing to help them. Is not just about saving her people but it's also about saving the people of Venda from their tyrant.
-Nice twists regarding Kaden past.
-Nice twists regarding Lia family
-I liked Lia's and her family dynamic.
Things my teenager self liked:
-Everybody gets a happy ending. Every main character survives and every one of them found love. A classic fairy tale ending.
Things I didn't like:
-Everybody gets a happy ending. Every main character survives and every one of them found love. A classic fairy tale ending... As an adult, I really didn't like that. First of all, if you have a love triangle and for two books you are telling us how much both Rafe and Kaden are sooooo deeply in love with Lia you don't get to just make Kaden fall in love with Pauline out of the blue and forget about Lia and just be besties. NO. I want my heart to be broken. I had mentally prepared myself for him to die or at the end to de like "I can be around you if you are not mine" and just leave. The author had an amazing opportunity to break our hearts but not... It's a YA book we can't do that. I sound like a crazy person I know...
-I felt this book was slower than it should have been. I was 40 pages from the end and this big battle between the ferocious army of Venda haven't even started. We had a big build-up from the previous book and I wanted an epic battle with twists and turns but it didn't happen.
-For 3 book we were told that Lia would have to "sacrifice" herself for the greater good. Well, that didn't happen either. Well, she "sacrificed" because she became the queen of Venda and couldn't be with Rafe. Ok, I can deal with that but then at the end, Lia and Rafe are "we love each other so we'll make it work", sooo... where is the sacrifice? Again a great opportunity to break our hearts but no... we went with the happy ending.
As I said this is a YA book so I'm perfectly aware of the author choices and I respect them. As a teenager, this would have probably been a 10/10. But if this final book was written for an adult audience it could have been heartbreaking and amazing.