Elizabeth Allen > Recent Status Updates

Showing 181-210 of 269
Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 81 of 640 of The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)
I don't know how I've ended up reading three chinese inspired fantasies all at once, but each one is brilliant, The Grace of Kings now included.

I'm really liking this one's focus on heftier prose, philosophy and political maneuvering. It does heavily on lean real history for plot progression, but it still works to stand out as its own unique stpry.
Feb 28, 2023 01:25PM Add a comment
The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 664 of 748 of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
The good: everything TenSoon, the Reen revelation, Spook's "Survivor of Flames" moment, the lore dumps

The bad: everything Vin & Elend, more god damn sieges, bloated writing, re-treading

So far it still hasn't quite lived up to the first book, but there is still time for it to end well.
Feb 27, 2023 03:35AM Add a comment
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 372 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
"Small-minded critics often point out that such and such a poem, for all its generous rhythms, is saying nothing more profound than: it’s a nice day. But it’s not easy to say it’s a nice day, and the nice day itself passes. Our duty, then, is to preserve that nice day in endless, flowering memory..."

"...the more profoundly I feel something, the more incommunicable it becomes."
Feb 26, 2023 05:05PM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 56 of 320 of Bloodlines (Warhammer Crime)
When I'm not drowning under a mountain of technobabble, the book is enjoyable enough. It came strongly recommended though, and it hasn't left me itching to read the next chapter yet, so I'm slowly tempering my expecations.
Feb 26, 2023 04:42PM Add a comment
Bloodlines (Warhammer Crime)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 54 of 658 of The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)
Still just as good - I sit down with the intention of just reading a chapter, and end up reading five.
Feb 25, 2023 05:55PM Add a comment
The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 264 of 409 of The Rose at War
Gone from strength to strength. There is one more novella and 2 more short stories to get through, and so far my opinion on Danie Ware's writing is vastly improved.
Feb 25, 2023 08:02AM Add a comment
The Rose at War

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 212 of 748 of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
Much like The Well of Ascension, a lot of pages so far have been dedicated to army movements and sieges, which is not something the series has ever written well and it's not really what I read for either.

I'm liking Vin's journal entries a great deal as they finally unravel the mysteries of the world.

I wonder if I'd enjoy Misborn more if each book had been kept closer to 500 pages, as they've all felt bloated.
Feb 25, 2023 02:32AM Add a comment
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 58 of 545 of The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2)
Lin & Jovis are two characters I never expected to have much chemistry on paper, but the way Andrea Stewart has written these opening chapters is incredibly engaging. Not only do I find myself wanting to see more of them together, their POV chapters play into one another brilliantly.
Feb 24, 2023 05:02PM Add a comment
The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 360 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
"From my silent lips you will hear no siren songs, no melodiously rustling trees or burbling fountains; my silence is as welcoming as an inaudible music, my peace as caressing as the merest thought of a breeze."

"Children are naturally literary because they say what they feel and do not speak like someone who feels according to someone else's feelings."

"I am, for the most part, the very prose that I write."
Feb 24, 2023 12:08PM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 338 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
"To find one’s personality by losing it – faith itself subscribes to that sense of destiny."

"To move is to live, to express oneself is to endure. There is nothing real in life that isn’t more real for being beautifully described."

"Decadence is the total absence of unconsciousness, for unconsciousness is the very foundation of life. If the heart could think it would stop beating."
Feb 24, 2023 05:55AM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 306 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
If someone told me that Pessoa had ADHD and was trans, I wouldn't necessarily argue.

"Everything in me is a tendency to be about to become something else; an impatience of the soul with itself, as if with an importunate child; a disquiet that is always growing and always the same. Everything interests me and nothing holds my attention."

"The woman I am when I actually know myself."
Feb 24, 2023 01:03AM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 142 of 748 of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
TenSoon's chapters combine the best of Sanderson's worldbuilding with his character writing. Good stuff.

It still reads like a slow burn every as we approach the end game.
Feb 23, 2023 02:14PM Add a comment
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 413 of 530 of The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
I think if this was just a story about the war between the Mugen and Nikara, then I'd probably find it was just okay. but the spirt walking and magic has added a dimension to the book that keeps it continuously fresh and exciting, and I know that I'm going to finish this book craving more.
Feb 22, 2023 05:43AM Add a comment
The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 162 of 409 of The Rose at War
Much better showing from Dani Ware. While The Triumph of Saint Katherine felt antithetical to who the Adepta Sororitas are, this is much more in line with their identity and I'm enjoying it more as a result. Still not sure I'd recommend it to someone who wasn't a fan of the franchise, but for those who are, it's worthwhile.
Feb 21, 2023 03:41PM Add a comment
The Rose at War

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 36 of 473 of The Bone Ships (The Tide Child, #1)
Great worldbuilding so far, but due to the lack of descriptions, imagining what the world looks like is very hazy. I also find the book quite difficult to read, as the sentence structuring and use of jargon slows me down unnecessarily. I like the gender parity and the books examination of it so far.
Feb 21, 2023 03:20PM Add a comment
The Bone Ships (The Tide Child, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 64 of 748 of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
It's nice to see the Lord Ruler explored further in this book. The revelations of the previous book had already recontextualized his actions, but Hero of Ages is showing a different dimension to his personality that we haven't seen up until now.
Feb 20, 2023 03:29PM Add a comment
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 393 of 670 of Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)
Lots of things are being called back to, which results in super satisfying scenes that leave me giddy, but also scenes where the middle book's spectacular character development gets walked back in the span of like...two pages...for whatever reason. I'm starting to feel that with less than 300 pages to go, this mixed bag experience won't be salvaged, but at worst, it will still be at minimum an average book.
Feb 14, 2023 05:13PM Add a comment
Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 275 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
"You are what everything lacks. You are what everything requires for us to be able to love it always. The lost key to the gates of the temple, the secret path to the palace, the distant island always swathed in mist and never seen..."

"There is no sunset, however lovely, that could not be more so, no gentle breeze lulling us to sleep that could not lull us into a still deeper sleep."
Feb 14, 2023 12:01PM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 209 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
"The useless is beautiful because it is less real than the useful, which enjoys a continuing and lasting existence; while the marvellously useless, the gloriously infinitesimal, remains where it is, never goes beyond what it is, and lives free and independent."

"If I were certain this is what you were, I would build a religion around the dream of loving you."
Feb 12, 2023 07:51PM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 294 of 530 of The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
The magical elements have now come to the forefront and, pleasantly, the book is no worse off for it.
Feb 12, 2023 06:21PM Add a comment
The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 255 of 438 of The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)
Lin's chapters are finally delivering on the mystery promised early on, and as a result she's coming closer and closer to dethroning Jovis as my favourite character.

I also really like how casually the book incorporates lesbian and gay relationships into the story. The ability to just have that, and for it to not serve simply as another reminder about oppression, is really refreshing.
Feb 12, 2023 12:02PM Add a comment
The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 34 of 748 of The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
And so it begins...
Feb 11, 2023 02:55PM Add a comment
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 180 of 530 of The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
The core plot beats are familiar, but R.F. Kuang possesses such a mastery over storytelling that not only have I been binge reading with ease, I've not once felt bothered by the more cliché elements. I've heard this is a 'marmite' series, and there's still plenty of time for it to swerve in the wrong direction, but so far I'm loving it!
Feb 06, 2023 04:22PM Add a comment
The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 160 of 468 of The Book of Disquiet
Some weird gender essentialist thoughts about women. It's difficult to criticize because in Pessoa's typical style, he will eventually contradict himself. But it's there, and it makes me hesitate.

"I force myself to keep changing what I see so as to make it irrefutably mine [...] and thus I create, thanks to my experience and my customarily spontaneous way of looking, an inner way of looking at the outside world."
Feb 05, 2023 03:58PM Add a comment
The Book of Disquiet

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 180 of 438 of The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)
A slow burner. Jovis was the first POV to grab my attention, but now Lin and Phalue are starting to pick up as well. For as conceptually cool as this world is, very little has been done with it inside of a very familiar Mistborn-esque plot.
Feb 05, 2023 05:20AM Add a comment
The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 161 of 208 of The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #2)
The experience of reading this light novel is like getting offered a tasty snack right when you're hungry for it, but at the price of getting punched hard across the face. These aren't books I can recommend to anyone as they've not aged gracefully, but they still hold a special nostalgic place in my heart, and if nothing else, I like seeing how the series evolves over time.
Feb 04, 2023 04:18PM Add a comment
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #2)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 134 of 800 of The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)
Slow and steady progress. Sazed chapters are carrying the book so far, as Vin's POVs primarily just rehash conflicts and intrigue from the first book in ways that aren't fresh enough to excite me. It's finally picking up, but I would not be surprised if I say at the end of the book that it could have been made shorter.
Feb 04, 2023 03:21PM Add a comment
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth Allen is on page 298 of 570 of Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)
Before They Are Hanged continues to be a straight improvement on the first book in every way, which is an impressive feat given that The Blade Itself was by no means a bad book to begin with. I adore all of the characters, and they've somehow become more dynamic and more entertaining that they already were.
Feb 03, 2023 07:24PM Add a comment
Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)

Follow Elizabeth's updates via RSS