Reviews

She's Always Hungry

Star rating aside, I really enjoyed this book! It was the perfect read for me when I was in a reading slump because the short-story format didn't put too much pressure on me to keep up with names and other things you'd usually focus on in a normal one-story book. There were some misses in this book, specifically 'Goth GF'. I just didn't like it, the entire plot was pretty much a horny nothing burger. I kept waiting for the ball to drop and it never did.

On the brighter side, I absolutely loved 'She's Always Hungry', 'Extinction Event', 'Nightstalkers', and 'The King'. These four chapters are amazing! They're all very different in terms of the plot but boy, do they all just hit different. I really like how Eliza Clark can just write prose in such different themes and styles, like I can't believe the same person wrote 'She's Always Hungry' and 'The King'.

The reason I rated it 3.5 was that I did struggle to finish the book, as you can see from my reading dates. While it wasn't because the stories were bad (except for that single one), I just couldn't get into the other ones as much as the four chapters I mentioned. Either way, I still would recommend reading this, especially if you're in a reading slump or you're looking to just read something easy.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

A good sequel indeed! I enjoyed reading Map of the Otherlands as much as Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I couldn't help but squeal whenever there were cute and romantic scenes between Emily and Wendell since the first book pretty much only gave crumbs of their relationship, but this book was different, let me tell you that. Their relationship got me kicking my feet like I was back in high school.

However, I still like the first book more than the sequel as I think the writing and plot sequence were better handled than in this one. The unique journalling format was lost in some chapters in favor of a more immersive experience, but the first book's prose was what drew me to the series. I also didn't come to love the newer characters as much as I did the Ljoslanders. The villagers in St. Liesl were all nice, but they didn't play as much of a role in the story. Rose and Ariadne, on the other hand, I have no qualms with. I liked reading their scenes, but I didn't connect with them as much. Speaking of Ariadne, I read a lot of comments that found her annoying, but she was a fine character for me. I didn't find her irritating or unlikeable; I actually liked her, much more than Rose anyway.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the third one, which I will probably read after a palette cleanser. I hope we can get more of the detailed journalling format seen in the first book since there was so much of Silva Lupi introduced in this book that I can't wait to learn more about.

A Magical Girl Retires

I really wanted to like this. I was attracted to the title because I love the magical girl genre. To see a novel about magical girls interwoven with the complexities of the modern world and workforce, I was really expecting to like this.

Sadly, the entire thing was just one big meh. I wasn't interested in any of the characters; they were husks with no real substance. It just lacked depth, in my opinion. I mean, the story starts with her about to commit suicide, and that's all washed away after she finds out she's a magical girl. While there were references made throughout the story, her suicidal behavior was just gone after the first chapter.

The relationship between Roa and MC is also so hollow and empty. I don't know if I'm dumb and missed it all, but I sensed no chemistry or romantic tension between Roa and MC. It took me completely off-guard when Roa confessed to MC after running out on her when she found out she wasn't the Magical Girl of Time. Like, huh? No moments or developments could've led to that before the scene.

The big villain was disappointing as well. I felt that Mirae also had a great start in the story with her backstory as a domestic violence survivor. Still, all that's washed away when she just became all "I'm gonna kill all the magical girls and the world, I could've done so much worse, so you should be thanking me for being so patient." There was so much potential that just wasn't handled right; her reasonings for ending the world faster were never explained, she just provided her belief that the world doesn't need humanity, which could allude to her experiences of domestic abuse, BUT NONE OF THAT WAS EXPLAINED.

This book was just disappointing overall. It was all strong starts with lots of potential to go off that, but it fizzled out in the end. The MC isn't even named, and I don't know whether that's for some symbolic purpose. I wanted to like this book, but it fell short in many aspects.