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merouses · 2 years

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Games Mero Played, 2022 edition

Yeah the year’s ending, and among other things I’ve been wanting to practice my writing skills in general so here’s short review type things about most of the games I played this year, big and small (as long as I remember them). Not that anyone’ll read this but yeah. Might do one for books too later.

So, in no particular order:

Xenoblade 3 - This one was fun. For those who don’t know me, I’d say that Xenoblade is probably on my Top 2 favourite game series (the other being Zero Escape DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON ZERO ESCAPE), so I was, obviously, extremely excited for this one, so much so I timed my work vacation to play this game. And boy did I need those 3 weeks off, this game, as most jrpgs, took like 200h to complete, enjoyable all the way. Really the only problem to be said abt it is that the real climax of the story happens like 4/5ths into the game? And the rest feels a bit like they ran out of steam or money or time, or all of the above. A greatly dissappointing final stretch, bland final dungeon and tedious final boss kinda sour the game’s conclusion, but otherwise this really was THE rpg of the year.

Splatoon 3 - I’m don’t think I’m that big a fan of splatoon? Like, the gameplay is very fun indeed, but I guess multiplayer games in general will tire me out quickly as I get very salty very fast when I don’t win. But that aside Splatoon 3 is great! Very fun! Cute squid-octopus-kids abound! A fun single player mode that feels complete! Whenever some of my friends want to play something together I think this will be our go to game. I just wish this ONLINE MULTIPLAYER GAME’s online wasn’t such utter garba- Connection Error, you have been disconnected

Bayonetta 3 - Oof. Thats all I can really say abt this game, unfortunately. Well, clearly not, as there’re more a big paragraph here, but ‘oof’ does capture my feelings in all. I was so so so excited for this game. I loved the previous two games (though Im faaaar from a actual avid player of them, pure platinum is just not something I have patience for, and I didn’t even beat any of the superbosses throughout the series), and I love Bayo very very much. The VA drama happenned, and yes it did dampen my hype a decent amount, but I was still excited to play the game which I did and..... yeah. This game’s just not as fun as the previous games, by far. There’s no fun Bayo backtalk, this time she just lets the villain monologue. There are a few fun, campy setpieces as usual, but they’re surrounded by such a dour atmosphere! One of them does come close to making the game as fun as the previous ones though, the Ba’al Zebul fight specifically (this here was THE DIVA MOMENT I wanted. But Bayo herself barely reacted or interacted with her, she just looked silently on after the fight, as she did most of the game). But then the ending happenned and it lands with as much grace as shit hits the toilet (mind you, I don’t really care about the straight thing? Sure it comes out of nowhere but it’s as plausible as anything at that point. What really bothered me was the FOUR ‘Oh we won! oh wait no’ sequences that happenned. In succession. With no payoff). And then there’s the combat, which, yeah, is much closer to the engaging fun of the previous titles’ than the story, but somehow it still didn’t click with me, though yeah keep in mind here I’m not a hardcore player of action games. It’s just... disappointing. I don’t think I’m playing the next games in the series, at least not at launch. I’ll want confirmation that the tone is back where I like it first, at least. Even though it came out years ago, I think Astral Chain takes the cake between these two.

Pokemon Legends Arceus - I didn’t expect much from this game, but in the end it was a fun, refreshing experience. I had a blast exploring Sinnoh through this past lens, even though the edges were very..... polygonal, and the gameplay and focus on just catching oodles of pokemon was like a breath of fresh air. Sure the plot was as simple as I expected, but there were enough twists there to tide me over, and the soundtrack sure helped. I did not play sword and shield, and really only played this cause I love Sinnoh so much (and cause a friend lent it to me), and it was my enjoyment of this game which led me to tentatively buy...

Pokemon Violet - I bring nothing new to the table here. These games might be the best pokemon has felt since black and white, the story (all 3 routes, really) might be basic and not that imaginative, but they’re executed more than satisfacorily, the soundtrack is great and the pokemon themselves are more than decent, barring a couple duds (bellibolt I loathe you. Pawmot you have no reason to exist). BUT yeah these games are broken to shit. Like, yes this is unexcusable. Which makes it all the more confounding WHY do I want to keep playing this game??? I just hope the next games in the series take their sweet time getting here. Please Pokemon Company, let the devs at GameFreak REST.

Dragon Quest XI Echoes of the blablabla S - I played this this year??? Wow. Anyway, a great jrpg with decent enough plot, honestly what I expected from a dragon quest game: doesn’t take itself too seriously but still manages to keep you engaged throuhout. A highlight was the final boss actually needing your party to be close to lvl 99, which is rare for jrpgs.

Touhou 18.5 100th black market - ZUN wanted to make a roguelike and he sure did it! I’m not the best at danmaku games, even though they hold a special place in my heart, but this game was so easy to cheese I managed to 100% it! Take from that what you will, but if anything this was a great continuation from what UM brought to the table.

The Gardener and the Wild Vines - A short indie puzzle-action game, plus it’s gay! I didn’t bother finishing all the challenges, just beat the story and got its collectibles, but honestly this game’s blend of fast action and puzzle elements was fun enough, even though it got a bit button mashy at times. Idk I feel like Im underselling it, it was a charming and engaging experience, clearly heartfelt, and it feels fun to play.

Boyfriend Dungeon - The only game here I just dropped like 80min in, uncerimoniously. I could just copy paste my steam review here, but tldr: ‘The romance aspect feels cheap, simultaneously needing you to engage with it but rejecting you, and that un-makes the game. Combat’s fine but nothing special’.

Bad End Theater - A cute lovely visual novel, which lets you guide the narrative through 4 characters. Small and comfy feeling! Honestly not much else to say other than I enjoyed it!

Great Ace Attourney Chronicles - Almost a remake of the first AA, but in a cool new setting and with different enough characters. Fun throughout, save for a couple of the middle cases, as usual. This game’s failings are the usual AA failings, ‘oh you know how this case will play out already?? Well prepare to slooooowly watch the characters figure it out for 5 whole hours’. I understand why it’s like this but it’s still agonizing. Other than that, man do I feel bad for the people who played this game in 2 parts in the 3ds. The first one alone really isn’t a complete experience. In this package, though, thourouly enjoyable, and an amazing OST.

Paradise Killer - this one is cheating a bit, as I completed it previously around a year ago I think? But there was a decently big content update and I replayed it in full and honestly. This game is a delight. While sure the mystery in itself isn’t anything special, the setting is so interesting. The idea of getting to explore this whole island and collect clues around the whole place is a great one, and all while listening to a STELLAR soundtrack. Do yourself a favour and play this game.

Tales of the Neon Sea - This.... was fine. An interesting, if cliche, cyberpunk setting, an interesting enough mystery... I’ll be honest this game did not stick in my mind, it’s pretty bland, even though it’s fun enough. Sadly the things I most remember about this game are that it opens with a mystery unrelated to the rest of the plot and ends with an unengaging cliffhanger that comes out of nowhere. They’re trying to set up a series, here, but it wasn’t worth it.

Touhou Dream Logical World - The first touhou danmaku fangame I played! And it’s fun enough, the aspect shift mechanic brought a lot of fun to me playing the game, as even if I was just trying to survive a whole run it made me play for a highscore. Some patterns are just bullshit though, especially on first encounter. Oh and the plot is complete nonsense, and it takes waaay too much time from playing. This made me realise that the less speech boxes before a boss, the better, at least for this type of game.

Yugioh Master Duel - I’ve watched yugioh youtubers for a couple of years now, but I still don’t play the game. I tried a bit in this, but... I lost a lot, raged, refused to engage with the gatcha system (don’t do gatcha kids) and uninstalled. As a virtual way to play the game though, its fine.

Bugsnax - I got this as soon as it came out on steam and boy was it worth it. A fun romp through a deserted island, with interesting mystery and lore thats developed just enough to wet the appetite. What really got me though were the characters, I ended the game having enjoyed pretty much everyone, everyone was surprisingly hearfelt, even through the goofy lens of the game! Oh and the snax are great, love bunger.

What the Golf - Cute puzzle game! ...honestly not much more to say. All the levels are fun to at least complete on a first go, some of the 100% challenges go above and beyond to have a fun twist on an already fun twist on golf! Some of these completion challenges though are just... trial and error, and I do not have the patience for that. All in all though, you can tell that the devs had a blast coming up with the weirdest ways to play ‘golf’, and that joy is present throughout.

Aer: Memories of Old - I got this game massively discounted and tbh thats the way it should be bought. Not that its bad per se, flying around and solving puzzles is pretty fun and engaging, even though there’s not that much to do. The big disappointment here is the plot. There’s not much of it, but that in and of itself is not bad. It sets itself up kinda like botw, in the sense that there’s a little set up and then you’re free to explore, and there are some clues as to what happenned here and there. But then the game sets up its endgame, getting into this big monolith in the middle of the map, and you do and then... its over. No boss no resolution to the mysteries, nothing to cap off the experience, there’s barely a cutscene and it ends. This is another one I played a while ago, and honestly? The bummer is that that lack of an ending is what stuck.

Moonlighter - This was a fun one, finding items in dungeons at night and selling them in the day was a great gameplay loop! I played up to the final boss, but in the end didn’t bother beating it for whatever reason. I think in the end the combat itself, while fun, didn’t scale great to the later dungeons/bosses.

Cities Skylines - City builders like this are a lot of fun, and I thought I’d get so much out of this game... but turns out I just don’t have the patience, focus and/or force of will to play these types of games for a long while. Good for what it is, and I learned a bit abt myself in the process.

Final Fantasy XIV - Yeah yeah I played the acclaimed yadda yadda free demo up to level blah blah with expansion and cheese. This game’s fun! Thoughrouly enjoyable. Just another game that I just don’t really have the patience for, turns out. I got to what I think was the end of the main plot and peaced out, but what I played was good enough. Doesn’t help no other friends of mine play it, or that my skull’ll melt if I engage in social activities through an MMO.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - A lovely experience. I don’t know how, but I think this was the most perfect game I played this year! Just pure joy from begginning to end! And I think what really made me just... happy, from this game, was that I was perfectly content when I 100%ed it. I felt extremely satisfied with basically everything I played. Sure I could go for a few more levels or a replay now, but then, when I finished the game, I felt like everything was its perfect length. Kirby came to 3D and showed that waiting however many years for this was entirely worth it.

AI The Somnium Files: nirvanA Initiative - Uchikoshi strikes again!! And man how do I love it when he strikes. The man’s an icon, even though he’s not the director this time around. His games are iconic too! There’s not much I want so say about this game other than ‘go play it’, it’s a great mystery game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sure the main, big twist may be a bit too... out there, and there IS an aspect of it that I dislike, but just the way every detail falls into place? I love that shit. The characters? So much fun!! The main mystery? Sure it’s not perfect, but damn is it fun to experience. Again, I love these games!!! Oh, and the completion bonus?!?!?? Oh my god. Oh my god!! What a treat!!! I was laughing to myself almost crying. You can definetly tell that this guy and the team he works with at Spike Chunsoft love the games they’re making.

I think that’s everything? Or at least most of everything. If it’s not here then damn that game was forgettable, I guess. All in all a pretty decent year! A lot of 3′s. The best game I played I think has to go to kirby, but my favourite of the year.... idk a year is a long time and I enoyed a lot of these games.

If you’re interested Im probably going to post links to all the indies here in a reblog, so check if that’s already there!

#gaming #year in review #merosays

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merouses · 2 years

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Books Mero read, 2022 edition

As promised (to myself?) here’s a small review for all books and book series I read this year!

The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling - This series. This FUCKING series. Its so fucking good. Its sooooo good!!! It’s 7 books in all (plus 1 collection of short stories) and they’re all at least very good. It can be intimidating since it’s a pretty long series BUT they’re all pretty standalone still. My favourite turned out to be the 3rd book, as it best meshed the adventure and intrigue styles, which the other books tend to stick mostly to one of. My only critiques really are that some parts are really.... unpleasant to read, given the situation the characters find themselves in, and sometimes these parts reeeeally overstay their welcome. Book 4 Im looking at you(....I skimmed over like half of this book for this reason). Regardless of that though, these books are still great, the characters are amazing, and the many many times and ways Seregil and Alec were tastefully described as fucking was 100/10.

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens - From great to bad. Ok maybe thats a bit harsh but this book is just uninspired and uninspiring, probanbly the most “young adult” of the books I read this year? Like, yeah its cute and all, and the romance is... fine? But nothing happens in this book. There’s one actual good moment that’s when the MC is kidnapped (not a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis) and that chunk of pages was actually engaging, but then... nothing. Or essentially nothing. The ‘mystery’ the book proposes is the barest of bones of one, and the ending absolutely sucked: a sudden problem solved by an even more sudden solution, all in less than 20 pages. Idk maybe this one really was just too juvenile for me, I imagine if I read it at like 12 or 13 I’d have liked it, or at least enjoyed it more.

The Fire’s Stone by Tanya Huff - This is another one that felt ‘young adult’, it’s very much a fantasy adventure book, if that makes sense. An unlikely band of heroes set out to defeat the bad guy, get the thing and save the land, yadda yadda. But... it’s pretty good! The unlikely heroes are all pretty likeable and their dynamic fun, the pacing’s pretty good, the setting interesting... Everything just clicked, really, this was a fun time.

The Last Sun, The Hanged Man & The Hourglass Throne (or, The Tarot Sequence 1,2&3) by K.D. Edwards - The harshest thing I can say about these books is that the author plans 9 of em and only 3 are out. I just. Really really loved these ones, the characters are great, the plots are fun, even if they get pretty dark sometimes (mostly on book 2)... They’re contemporary fantasy and, I’ll be honest, when I first picked up The Last Sun I thought I’d hate it. A lot of swearing, a lot of action-movie action, the mc loves his quips... honestly if I hadn’t known it was gay It’s not a book I’d pick up. But I was wrong! And everything works. The world created (where atlantis had revealed itself to the world and is now a modern day city with it’s own intricacies and conspiracies) is so engaging, it really shows its own culture and how it intertwined with today’s world. And very much today’s world, the 3rd book even brings up COVID. Really... I just can’t wait for the next books.

White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton - I’m talking about this one right after the Tarot Sequence cause they feel very similar. Not really in terms of plot, but they feel both like offshoots of the same base idea of magic in the real current world, there’s probably overlapping inspiration there. And... it’s fine! I can’t really say why, but even though I liked this book well enough it just didn’t grab me like the other books I enoyed on this list did. Maybe it’s the pacing, maybe it’s my growing familiarity with gay fantasy (this is the last book I finished out of these) but it just... fell short I guess. Or maybe it’s the fact that really this book feels very.... “american”, in the sense that it’s really about some specific american things or experiences, I guess, and I’m not american. I can try and imagine everyone’s accent as described, sure, but it’s not bringing along the baggage that’s there if you know these places first or second hand. Can’t say I enoyed the very brief but unnecessary cliffhanger though ...but I’ll still read the rest of the series, and hope they get better.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner - This book is all intrigue, essentially, and I... liked it? I think? It has similar problems to In Deeper Waters, where nothing reeeally happens till it does all at once, but it managed that pacing much better than Waters did, first by having the nothing happenning actually feel like a buildup, slow as it was, and second by having the story be actually about politics and schemes and intrigue, so it warrants its own slowness. Most of these characters are assholes though.

The Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn - Another slow one, but this time a proper slow adventure, rather than intrigue drama, I guess. I.... don’t really wanna talk to much about this one. It’s gay and it isn’t, it flows nicely, and everythings well painted but... it made me feel a lot of conflicting feelings which left me very down for several days, but I think that was because of personal feelings as to what happens here. So yeah. Idk. Can’t really say I disliked it but it doesn’t feel right to say I did, either. The title doesn’t really make a lot of sense though, that’s for certain.

Silver in the Wood & The Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - A duology of short books that can best be described as squandered potential. Man, I liked the first book. It’s short, its sweet, sure the pacings not that great and this is definetly a fanfic that was repurposed into a book, but it’s good! It has a feel, the way the magic things, the wood itself is decribed is good, its intriguing, it made me think “oh thats a cool way to describe these things that are happenning!”. And then the second book just. Has the same characters, has the same magic things but. Does absolutely nothing with it. The interesting descriptions? Maybe a couple of passages but they don’t make up for the bad plot and pacing this time. There was the opportunity for a great ending, one which would actually made you feel things, but it dropped the ball so hard. Bleh.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Markse - This is the first book I read this year! And really, a great way to start. Its an edwardian fantasy with a veeery interesting magic system, a cool plot, good characters, if a tad tropey. I had a lot of fun reading this one! Part of that may be the posh englishmen suddenly talking about cock, and me getting sucker punched by eplicit sex scenes which I did exxpect. Either way, the sequel just came out and I’m excited to see if it can keep up with the first one. It’s apparently about lesbians, which is fun.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - I think this is the only properly not gay book I read this year. That aside, I loved this book!!!! Like, a lot!!!!! The worldbuilding is really good, leaving a lot of space open for exploration, but it does lean heavily into fantasy mumbo jumbo, as in, boy does this book have a looot of hard names to remember. There’s a glossary of sorts at the end but most of the times I went to it for help, it didn’t have the word. That aside, it was enjoyable the whole way through. It’s another story of political intrigue and schemig, not a lot of action, but the pacing somehow still feels so fast!! It’s about the youngest son of the emperor, who had no training and no expectations of becoming emperor himself and surprise! The crown lands on his head, essentially, and then about how isolated he feels due to his new position and how he navigates his relations when there are so many epectations of him. Its really good. It almost seemed like unearthing treasure when I later found out that there are sequels and the sequels actually do have a gay main character. Read this book.

Small epilogue: I just got back into reading this year, after not really picking up a new book since around 2019? And man. Reading is great. Ive sincerely started feeling so much better, so much more creative since I got back into reading!! Im surprised I jumped right back into reading a book a week (almost) and honestly? Im surprised at how comfy it feels. Ah, reading. I’m sicerely glad that I did so.

And so the year ends! On to more gay stuff! If you read this, thanks!!

#year in review #merosays

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merouses · 9 months

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Books Mero read, 2023

Gonna try and do this again, so here are short reviews of the books I read this year!! More gay books, but also some not gay stuff this time, what a surprise!

Red, White and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston - This was a rec from a friend and the first actual romance-and-not-fantasy gay book I read, and.... it’s great! I absolutely devoured it, and, sure, its a silly premise. The US’ first son and the prince of england fall in love!! Scandal! I was a bit aprehensive when first getting into it at how... tasteless it might get? But this book was surprisingly self aware, and indulges fully in it’s premise, and in turns tells an actually pretty good love story! The author says in the aknowledgements that this evoked some form of escapism and joy to the readers, given our... current world climates (this book came out in 2021, and... yeah) and I can honestly say that this book was pretty successfull in that. It left me feeling more hopeful, maybe not towards the world in general but to myself at least.

Witchmark by C.L. Polk - Of the edwardian fantasy (or gas lamp fantasy? Im not sure) books I’ve read, this was one of the weaker ones. Interesting enough premise about a veteran doctor in a war hospital trying to both hide his magic, help people and solve a murder with the help of a charming and mysterious fellow. But it kinda.... doesn’t really go anywhere? Sure things happen and mysteries are uncovered, but this book didn’t really have a strong enough... anything, really, to stand on its own. The romance is fine but is mostly just there, and the conclusion didn’t have much oomph either. It’s pretty clearly a lead in to a series, but, given I didn’t see anything special in this one and the other books don’t have mlm protagonists... I think I’ll skip em. I enjoyed this book but not enough to want more.

Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk - A good enough book about a shy nerd working in a museum, a mystery, and his eventual boyfriend. And the lovecraftian horrors they find, of course. A fun one with sex more graphic than I expected, but still enjoyable. I might pick up the rest of the series at a later date but for now Im sated on this one.

The Perfect Assassin by K. A. Doore - Another just fine one, to be honest. A pretty interesting setting, a town suspended by high beams above a desert, with scheming between its leaders and an assassin class to do their biddings. But thats pretty much the most interesting aspect of the book. The characters are ok, the romance is slight (though the MC is ace, and I really did like that a lot and how he was portrayed, even if it was not that big a deal), and the mystery... good enough but didn’t really keep me guessing or too intrigued. I liked parts of this one, but, again, not enough to pick up the rest of the series given that they star different characters and lack the mlm aspect that appeals so much to me.

Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff - I picked this one up almost solely cause I found The Fire’s Stone, which I read last year and is by the same author, so enjoyable. This one felt like one of her more ‘serious’ novels in comparison, not that it has that much more serious tone, but that this one certainly felt more adult. Contemporary fantasy (contemporary here being the 00s) set in a TV studio, very fun characters and very enjoyable plot throughout. It took a little while to get actually really engaging, to be honest, but I still liked it a lot. Might pick up the rest of the series later.

A Restless Truth by Freya Markse - I picked this one up cause I loved the previous book in the series, A Marvelous Light, so much. And honestly, the author has done it again. Loved this book a whooole lot, had loads of fun with it. A murder on a transatlantic ship in the Edwardian era, pretty interesting magic system, veeery fun characters. Sure this one had some graphic (to me) sex scenes, this time between women, but that didn’t take away from anything else here. Can’t wait for the last in the trilogy to come out, was very happy to see it seems to be slated for this year.

A Power Unbound by Freya Markse - Aaaand said last book of the trilogy came out! And I read it! And it’s again, very very good! I do have to say that it’s probably my least favorite of the series though, the plot felt less intriguing in general, which, fair, it’s the last book in a trilogy, there’s less to be revealed. The book also holds the tradition of only the two romantic leads of the moment being POV characters, but there were a couple of moments where it felt that one of the other characters really should be taking the stage. It also has a bit less balance in the plot<->sex scene scenario, compared to the other two... Regardless of these faults, though, it was still a very enjoyable read! Just not as good as the previous books, even if it was a fulfilling end to the trilogy.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett - My first discworld book! I’d only read Good Omens from Terry before and... Well now I get why he was a famed author holy shit. I absolutely loved this, and will be reading other discworld books for sure! It’s interesting thinking about how this book reads in comparison to the other books I’ve been reading, or at least most of them. The characters and story being told are important, sure, but this reads like the main purpose of the book is being an enjoyable read, if that makes sense? Its both dense and light, insofar as there’re paragraphs dense with information, but its tonally handled in a very light manner, and lots of that information is there to color in the reading experience. I’m not sure if its cause I haven’t read all that many comedic books (its been years since I read hitchhikers guide, for example) so maybe its a genre thing, but either way. Absoute joy to read.

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg - Another romance, and this one was waaay too adolescent for me. The main characters are teens, so sure that makes sense and it did fit, but for most of the book I was more cringing at some of the interactions and the way the characters thought than finding it charming. Realistic? Sure in some ways. But not very enjoyable to read. I started skipping some paragraphs starting on the second half but in the end I did enjoy the book. There are some interesting and unexpected things that happenned, and the characters get more serious and less dismissive of stuff by the end, which was nice, but yeah not the best experience overall.

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison - When I saw that the Goblin Emperor had a sequel and said sequel focused on a secondary gay character I was. So happy. And, luckily, with reason! This book is great, I don’t think its as great as the goblin emperor, but still amazing. The world the author’s built is so compelling, so detailed, it’s a delight to dive in again. On the surface, this book looks like a regular-ish murder mystery, but it’s more of a story where a murder mystery happens to feature, having very little to do with the second half and with the resolution coming more at the last possible second, so in that aspect it did leave me wanting, but in all the book was so filling that I honestly didn’t even miss that gratifying mystery resolution much.

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison - Direct sequel to the above book, and its much of the same in terms of being very very very good, having some mysteries that are not really the point, and having a great setting. Lots of introspection by the main character this time, which I did enjoy quite a bit. ...Not much more to say other than just as good as the previous one, reccommend just as much.

Lord Mouse by Mason Thomas - I don’t have much to say about this one. It’s... mediocre, but not in the sense that its bad, in the sense that it’s kinda bland? There are good moments here and there, but nothing really gripped me, and the romance fell completely flat, especially for the weird ending that was given to the characters. A fun enough read, if not memorable or special, though you can see that the author put a lot of love and effort in.

Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell - I’m very very torn on these books. I absolutely devoured them, reading all three in a little more than a week, and I did really really enjoy them! The first book especially I did adore, and the ‘harry potter spoof’ vibes from it are impecable! But unfortunately that was kinda one of the best things the series had for itself, and after the first two thirds of the first book its mostly dropped. Sure theres a lot of discussion on what comes next for a chosen one, which was really interesting! ...but there’s no proper resolution, and that’s kinda the problem. With the second book especially, everyones a bit too much of a downer, even if I do enjoy the characters a good deal. The lead’s romance in the third book I adored, and there was a lot of stuff there that resonated a lot with me but... I don’t know, there wasn’t a real conclusion, the book just... stopped. Which might be part of the point, tbh, but then theres a half assed epilogue that tells you nothing and for no reason is set a year later and its half a page and it kinda made me mad. Another thing is that the magic system for this universe is great! Its so interesting, has so much potential, BUT as with a lot in these books, it features strongly in the first book then it’s more a set dressing with which nothing is done in the sequels. ...either way, I think these books are worth it, pretty entertaining and fun, even if they kinda start unraveling. Carry On is amazing, Wayward Son is alright and Any way the Wind Blows is a mixed bag, but at least there’s the main romance that, to me at least, kept going strong.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - My first Le Guin book! And honestly I can’t quite say ‘I get it now’ like I did with Thief of Time and Terry Pratchett, but at the same time I can? Cause on the surface the writing style, long paragraphs with little dialogue, doesn’t really appeal to me? But it did draw me in by the end, with methodical and.... well constructed storytelling I guess. A lot happens and very little happens at the same time, and its all very broad and decisively told, with characters that aren’t the point but at the same time are... I don’t really know what to say, really. I liked it well enough, it really feels like staring into another world, never knowing everything but just enough to keep interested. Lets see if I like the sequels too I guess.

Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr - In her description at the end of the book, Megan Derr says she’s been accused of fluff and nonsense, and, yeah, that tracks. This book is predictable as can be, not outstanding in any way, but it did make me feel pretty good, and the romance was good enough that once it got going I devoured the rest! I think I liked this more than lots of other ‘just ok’ books I’ve read, so honestly? Here’s to fluff and nonsense.

Board to Death by CJ Connor - It hurts a bit to say it but..... this book’s bad. Not really awful or offensive in any way, but bad and a bit bland, which is really too bad cause there’s definite potential here, and somewhere somehow this could’ve been a pretty good cozy murder mystery book! But alas. I think the worst part, really, is that it’s not that well written. It’s cohesive enough, but there were more than a few times where it got confusing especially when time passed in the story and it didn’t really tell the reader that, which left me questioning what happenned when and when was now, which, for a mystery book, hurt the experience a good bit. It kinda felt like there wasn’t a real editing pass, which um... given the aknowledgements, there was. The mystery itself too was flimsy at best, with the protagonists never really making assumptions, more just getting names of people to question, moving down that list, getting more people to question, and eventually one of those people just straight up tells them who the killer is. The motive for the main character involving himself in the investigation wasn’t convincing either, since the police involve themselves from the get go, with no apparent issues on their part, and the protag didn’t really feel like he needed to get the mystery solved ASAP. But he tells us that he does, for some reason or another. The characters are fine, the plot’s (mostly) ok, and in the end it��s an entertaining enough read (even if I think I finished it more to be able to say I did than for pleasure), though it doesn’t feel like there’s nothing really going for it, which is a shame, since it does feel like a passion project.

#book reviews #book recs #merosays #year in review

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