This page is a log for the books I read and my impressions on them!

I will try to include when I read it, a short (or long, depending on motivation) review, and general information about the book!

It is formatted so that my most recent read will be at the top, and you can scroll futher down for older reads.

Super duper enjoyed this book, just like the first one! I will probably write something more detailed later on (I took notes somewhere and lost it). I really loved Burrich, Kettricken and Patience! I'm so glad Fitz gets closer to these people and is able to have more of a support circle compared to Book 1. Makes it less emotionally taxing.

A slightly controversial opinion but I do not like the focus on Fitz's relationship with Molly. It might just be a testament to Hobb's ability to write from a variety of perspectives but Fitz's love (and lust) for Molly puts me off a little. I think it may be a personal thing though.

Regal is an ass.

Ok so this is the book I was waiting for while I read the previous book. For some fun context, I first picked up the Farseer series in the wee year of 2020 (year 6, covid, crazy) but was so emotionally distraught by how evil Regal is that I genuinely couldn't finish the first book and just went back to my Wings of Fire and Septimus Heap (much more age appropriate imo). Reading it again now, I understand why it would upset 12 year old Lu but year 12 Lu is prepared and found the ending only mildly discomforting.

Robin Hobb is a fantastic writer and for most of the book I found myself wanting to read more every time I had to put the book down to get off the train or go to bed. I enjoy the way it is recounted as a framed narrative (McCann Mod C ahh) with the sections of world lore and different perspectives at the beginning of each chapter. The worldbuilding itself is really nice, classic fantasy style. I do find it a little hard to gauge how much power Buckkeep and their kingdom has. The two (so far) magic systems are interesting, and I hope they are developed further in later books. The characters are interesting and likeable for the most part, I like Burrich, Verity, and Chade. There is a lack of likeable female side characters (Hod I suppose?) but I chalk this up to the perspective being through a young boy, and hence he sees women mostly as annoying and old or love interests (Molly). Although Fitz does have a bit of a special chosen one feel to him, his character is still balanced, and his thought process is fun to read and follow. Also he suffers enough to make up for it, poor thing.

It's great as a first book to a series, leaving lots of loose ends which would be confusing and annoying if it were a standalone. I will be reading Assassin's Quest (Book 2) this afternoon, what even is the HSC?

This supernatural thriller novel was really a filler read for me as I waited for my next reservation, picked off a random library shelf. The target audience, publisher, and blurb gave me a good gauge on how much I would enjoy it, aka not bad but not phenomenal. The main character is your typical edgy teen, blasting Tool on their headphones and only wearing black hoodies. They wallow in a sense of profound isolation the entire novel through, which is fair enough. Their family is physically isolated after spontaneously moving to a plantation in the Swedish north to become tree farmers (ridiculous for a family of one girlboss lawyer, one regular guy, and a teenager). The plot of the story is that the family is hunted by the varulv (werewolves) that protect the ancient, deciduous forest.

There are some enjoyable components to the book. The main character, no matter how tropey and annoying, has their head screwed on right and doesn't move like a stupid horror movie protagonist. The concept itself is interesting, with folk beasts and the awesome power of nature hunting the wee modern man. Maybe there is more to the Swedes than Ikea after all. The prose is nothing extraordinary, but it isn't bad and reads easily. And despite how corny and dated it may be, I personally love the use of appendices and other various forms in the end of a novel to deliver an 'Aha' moment or two.

Unfortunately, my annoyances with the story outweigh the enjoyment. First of all, why? I understand the forest and its magical power, but the entire idea of the family uprooting (haha?) their lives to run a plantation business is ridiculous. These guys should have been out of the building the moment the police offered a rescue helicopter, but we wouldn't have a story then. Personally I would have been sneaking back on the moving truck to civilization the moment I landed in that place. The story attempts to preach a little on being less of an edgy teen and being grateful for your daily life, yet makes the edgy teen protagonist the only reasonable character for most of the novel, with the mother becoming enchanted by the forest's magic, the father blinded by his own arrogance. It also attempts to instill a fear of nature, which it does achieve. However, the characters 'representing' the forest and nature are written to either be unlikeable or plain evil. Dorothea as a character is such a choice. A 70 year old housemaid who just hates everyone and everything except the forest, strong and fast enough to murder generations of people with blunt force head trauma and haul their bodies into hidden chambers and chutes in the mansion. It's never explained why she serves the forest at all, nor what her unrequited love for one of her employers back when she was 16 had to do with any of this. The tree hugger, whose name I have forgotten (sorry mate) is perceived as annoying by the protagonists, and hence by the reader, despite him being a well-meaning, good guy. There are many inconsistencies and unrealistic moments, but we (yes WE) will let them slide.

Overall, a forgettable and very filler read. Not that it's bad, I'm sure some people would love it. It probably would have been my cup of tea three or so years ago.

Will update but I liked this book.

I think it should've been yuri.

Less Staryk king screentime, more Wanda screentime.

the last/final lion (Lionie?) 최후의 라이오니 * The only English translation for this title listed the character's name as Lion, but I believe it reads more as Lionie (Ra-ee-oh-nee when translated directly)

The opening story introduces that overarching theme of people who are seen to have a sort of "shortcoming" that separates them from the majority, and the love that attempts to transcend this difference in perspective and understanding. In the case of our main character, she isn't as brave or unaffected by fear of death than the others of her race, the Romons (Lomons?). The story follows our main character's first ever interspace adventure, where she meets a group of intelligent robots surviving on a dying planet. She is held captive by the leader of the robots who believes she is Lionie, their saviour, who has returned with a way the save the last remaining robots.

My personal reaction while reading this story was that initially it was slow, constantly building up the character's backstory and "flaw" that sets her as the minority. This pays off in the resolution as her backstory and 'flaw' are explained, then made a key part in making the main character the main character. This is albeit done in a slightly preachy "your shortcomings are your superpower" way that isn't present in all the stories. .

marie's dance 마리의 춤 *The name could be Marie or Mary, but Marie looks prettier so that is what we'll use

This second story takes a different, blunter approach to the stories of the minorities approach by incorporating a fictional social minority of people who have visual impairments called "mogs" (yes I know don't laugh). Our main character is a somewhat prejudiced and ignorant dance instructor who ends up teaching a young mog girl, Marie, how to dance despite her inability to see the finer techniques and movements of dance. Some light research showed that the author may have based this story on her own disability, a hearing impairment. On a personal level, I liked both the main character and Marie's characterisation in this story. Marie is quirky and charismatic, she draws in the main character and has the same effect on the reader. The primary sci-fi element in this story aside from the world building of 'mogs' is the virtual world technology that Marie develops, which is left vague and confusing whether intentionally or not. The author daring to write such a morally grey character who is representative of the 'minority' so early in the anthology is brave, and it pays off in my opinion.

laura 로라

The third story is again based on an existing disability, with the sci-fi element coming more from advanced medical technology rather than intergalactic travel. It is the reflection of the main character's attempt to understand his fiance Laura who suffers from Body Integrity Identity Disorder, an existing mental disorder. He travels around the world to meet similar cases to Laura to write his future bestselling article, but finds that she seems to be a unique case. It can be read as an interesting exploration of the isolating nature of mental health conditions, with Laura being a fiercely independent and enigmatic character even to her own fiancé. It also develops the author's own inner world, and the struggles he faces as someone he loves suffers and changes, and he grapples with his own emotions of love and betrayal. There are brief nods to phantom pain symptoms, body modification, and other similar concepts.

shadow breath 숨 그림자

This story is one with more of a sci-fi world, where the people have evolved to live in a small underground world due to the inhospitable world outside. The main character is interested in the science behind their newly evolved method of communication, atoms released through breathing that have their own meanings and can be interpreted by these people as words and sentences. The bulk of the story follows this main character and a human girl, the last of her kind who has been revived from a cryogenic sleep state by the research center the main character works at. The main character becomes this girls only friend and advocate in a world that views her as a scientific anomaly to be researched and not left to roam free in their society. The story follows their budding relationship, between the human girl's internal struggles in a world where she cannot even understand the basic mode of communication, and the shadow girl who cannot understand her new friend's struggles until their relationship is damaged by their inability to understand one another. I believe this story is also a work somewhat inspired by the author's own hearing disability in a more imaginative world. yuri potential. The ending brought a tear to my eyes.

longstanding agreement 오래된 협약

I really enjoyed the twist at the end, although I think the world could have been fleshed out a bit more. Nice nod to religion and social order in a Lovecraftian sense.

knowledge space 인지 공간 * Using the traditional character meanings as a direct translation,인 for human and 지 for knowledge.

A story following the main character and her closest friend, who is physically smaller and weaker than everyone else. They live in a society where all knowledge is stored in a physical building called the 'human knowledge space' that is a physically enormous building that adults (teenagers and up) climb and explore every day to learn and add to collectively. The main character's friend is physically too weak to access any of the higher order information that is physically higher, meaning her purpose in society is unfulfilled (draws back to the first story) and becomes resentful of the knowledge space instead, while the main character becomes further reverent of it. The two drift apart, with the main character pursuing her own passions as an administrator for the knowledge space while the friend begins to dream of a portable knowledge vessel so that she can hold all her own memories and knowledge. The friend passes away while trying to pursue knowledge on her own due to her frail body and lack of adventuring companions, leaving behind a prototype for a portable, personal knowledge space. The knowledge space seems to be an allegory for a brain, warning against the lack of reliance on personal pursuit of knowledge and opinions unique of the societal norm. I enjoyed the story, especially the development of the two character's relationship, and the scene where they discuss the disappearance of the third moon, possible a metaphor for the knowledge and memories that become obsolete over time and less people pay it attention.

cabin equation 캐빈 방정식

The final story in the anthology focuses on the motif of an unglamorous ferris wheel located in a very small amusement facility on the rooftop of a certain shopping center in the city of Daegu. This ferris wheel has become a small urban legend, with rumours of ghosts and supernatural happenings spreading online. The main story first recounts the main character's relationship with her older sister, a physicist who tragically is in a plane crash. This accident impairs her sense of time, a rare neurological condition resulting in her unable to easily respond to stimuli, speak, or otherwise act due to her body's altered sense of time. Months after her sister, bedridden and hospitalised, painstakingly runs away to a far away country, the two women reunite after the sister expresses interest in riding the ferris wheel, and the two find out that at the top of the wheel is a space time bubble where a human's sense of time can be altered, just as the sister's has permanently. This story again explores the perspective of somebody who loves someone with a disability, and the isolation that said disability brings to both characters. Although the two characters cannot communicate effectively due to their difference in time, the scene where they meet for the first time again in a cafe and the main character has a one sided conversation was devastating. This story brings to a close the overarching theme of isolation due to a difference, whether physical or neurological, and the way love and care can attempt to transcend these differences, to varying degrees of success. Overall it was a lovely read, although some of the sci-fi and technological language can be difficult. I will look into the author's other, more popular anthology of short stories.

This novel was all over social media a few years ago, and I found it while looking for heartwarming books to read when you're a little bit down and need a pick me up. It was, as promised, a heartwarming and light story, despite the heavy subject matter, which I see some people do not approve of. The magical realism (oh how I hate that phrase) novel follows Linus Baker, a case worker for the Department In Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY) which is the organisation which oversees the management and registration of young magical beings. The worldbuilding is that of a contemporary setting where humans are the most common inhabitants, sharing (though not quite fairly) the world with magical creatures such as witches, demons, sprites, and many more. Linus is forty-something, and frankly has no life, living alone in a drab little suburb with an unaffectionate cat and little time for any self development or hobbies. He simply lives to work, impartially assessing orphanages for magical youths. These qualities lead to Linus being selected by Very Upper Management to be the lucky case worker tasked with a top secret case, an isolated orphanage on an isolated island in the unfriendly and isolated town of _. He is tasked with reporting on its inhabitants, Lucifer, Sal, Phee, gnome name, Chancey, Theodore, and the master of the house Mister Arthur smth. Each of the magical inhabitants were deemed anomalous and dangerous, and were hence relegated to the secret and remote orphanage. Sal has the power to turn those he bites into shapeshifters just as he is, Theodore is one of the last of the wyverns who were hunted to near extinction, Chancey is a unique creature never seen before, and Lucifer is the son of Lucifer the devil (the antichrist). During his month-long stay at the orphanage, Linus quickly undergoes the five stages of grief (mostly fear, then repulsion first at the situation he's in and the lack of adherence to regulation, then towards the DICOMY management for throwing him into the "deep end" without preparation. The story very much centers of found family and the heartwarming process of Linus becoming close to the children, Zoe, the sprite to whom the island belongs, and particularly to Arthur (do you see where this is going).

Linus warming up towards the children is written in a very predictable and on-the-nose way, but there is something loveable in that. The introduction of the mayor and the way the characters overcome the adversity of years of systematic persecution and hate from the main town is unrealistic and frankly magical, it very much reminds you that this is all happening within a fictional story. It's not atrocious or wrong, but it definitely takes away from the reading experience. The prose stands on its own, it doesn't promise to be eloquent high fantasy but is still artfully written in Klune's own voice. My evaluation is that it is an easy read for slow days when you have plenty of time to read the whole book relatively quickly. I finished the novel within a weekend myself, and definitely enjoyed the experience. It was warm, it brought a smile to my face when it wanted to and made my heart pang when it wanted that. Personally, I found the romance plotline to be a little cringe, but cute nonetheless, although there was much to be desired from Arthur's perspective (honestly I didn't see what was loveable about the main character, but that may just be me). Linus' internal sputterings about Arthur are pathetic, which I honestly enjoyed. I do have qualms about the other couple, Zoe and the mayor. Their relationship is barely hinted at throughout the novel and only developed during the time skip (this is cheating). It gave a little feeling of forced representation, or like a fan-made headcanon rather than a canonical part of the novel. It doesn't really take away from the novel as it is revealed towards the end, and I'm sure some people like the development, I just found it took away from the immersion, which was broken soon anyway.

A critique of the book I found online was its inaccurate portrayal of mission orphanages, which Klune himself claimed he drew inspiration from. The historical events surrounding these orphanages are serious and dark, and many readers, myself included, believe that it was not the correct setting for this heartwarming story. In Canada, Indigenous children were torn from families to be raised by white missions where they would be 'civilised' and then assimilated into white society, where they would still be treated as second-class citizens. While the systematic discrimination against the magical beings in the story can be a clear allegory for racism, I believe it is not executed with the level of grace, knowledge, and tact that it requires when related to this horrific historical event. If Klune himself hadn't admitted to taking inspiration from these happenings, I wouldn't take much issue with it. It would simply be a white author's depiction of magical racism, and it would be fine. However, simply having overcoming racism as a theme of a story and basing a story's setting on disgusting real world events are quite different. Publically sharing the inspiration behind the story comes with a responsibility. All of this said, I do not believe The House on the Cerulean Sea is a bad book, nor is his flawed portrayal of dark historical events a "cancellable offence" on Klune's part. It is a fair critique and a learning opportunity.

All of this being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I believe it was a little overhyped, but nobody can control the internet's mass opinions. It was a heartwarming story and I certainly would have liked it a lot more had I not known the background information. I will try more of Klune's works if reading gets slow.