kaleidoscopic whimsy: 2018

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN
AGH
I had to rewind the ending a few times to make sure I was hearing right and I am not happy about this. It felt a little out-of-nowhere but better than over-foreshadowed or meaningless.

Overall: I enjoyed this book, but it was getting near SJM-levels with the numbers of POV characters and pairings and trying to shoehorn in ALL THE DIVERSITY. At the end of the day I do enjoy my angsty fantasy romance (or I wouldn't have gotten this far), but this book was pushing it a little.

Good job actually ending the book this time though! It felt like book 1 had 3-5 endings, seriously.

P.S. I was sorry Morena Baccarin didn't come back, but James Marsters is a pretty good narrator! Glad to see he's back for book 3.

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And I Darken by Kiersten White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this, I don't know why it took me so long to pick it up! (Yes I do. I hate reading hardcovers - Hence why I listened to the audiobook despite owning the hard copy for two year. And it was great! I wouldn't know how to pronounce any of the names without it. Plus, I really didn't feel bogged down by slow parts or infodumps like others who read the text version seem to have been.)
Anyhow, back to the book. I found it very interesting to read about a historical period I'm not too familiar with, and it's been a while since I read historical fiction that wasn't masquerading as fantasy, so that was a nice change as well. I also really enjoy books with a lot of political machinations, so another plus there.
More than that, though, the characters in this were SO well done. It does take place literally from Lada and Radu's birth to their late teens, so there is quite a lot of time to flesh them out, and Kiersten White has done such a good job of showing their personalities and how they grow into them over the course of the book.
Lada, from the minute she's born, is so fierce and determined. She can be a little too oblivious and headstrong for me sometimes, but I still admire her spirit It takes Radu time to grow into his own strengths (aside from being handsome, of course), but when he does it's great to see him become a sneaky diplomat and I love him. Also, his religious journey is super interesting. Compared to the two of them, you definitely don't get as much with Mehmed, although he has some interesting moments due to his position & power. Still, I don't feel like I know him or his motivations.
Now, the love triangle - I did see it coming, but I didn't really have any issues with it. I have a soft spot for the whole "forbidden relationship" trope, but based on how the book ends, it doesn't seem like it's going to work out either way at the moment. I'm really interested to see how it goes in book 2 - and will the mysterious gray-eyed man make a reappearance??
I can't wait to see Lada take control of her homeland - it's going to be a bloody second installment.

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