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I had forgotten how bleak, and yet how beautiful this book is. There's a reason it's on all of those "must read" lists. . .

Very much darker than the first two books, surprisingly so, but still a good read. I hardly remember InkSpell, the second book, so that was a challenge, but I did remember the characters quite fondly and they did not disappoint.

I did feel it was overwritten, as if the author knew that she needed to end the series and so wanted to draw it out. Quite a few chapters were nothing more than waiting around, which got tedious in the middle. Everything wraps up rather well, however, so I'm willing to overlook this flaw.

The book starts out wonderfully, with fully realized and interesting characters, and a wonderful take on the victorian style of storytelling. Many reviewers complain about the overwriting, but this is really a masterful demonstration of a different style of writing than your usual pulp-fiction. The middle of the book is truly engrossing.

The premise is so promising, and interesting, that Dahlquist could have gone in almost any direction. Unfortunately, he just couldn't sustain his own creation, and around the last quarter of the book, he simply seems to give up. Instead of treating his characters with the respect they deserve, he lets the whole thing devolve into a bloodbath, for no good reason.

So very unsatisfying after such a promising beginning. And I can't believe he wrote a sequel, for god's sake! By the time I got to the last page I was absolutely relieved to be done, such a shame after I had enjoyed so much of it. Bleah.

I love this series, but this was not the book it could have been. It felt in parts like the author was making the usual rounds of the usual haunts, and I totally nailed the traitor on his first appearance. Interesting twists with Thomas, which will hopefully be fodder for better execution in the next book, and I enjoyed Molly as well. Just wish the story itself had been done better -- could have been a buddy-cop like thing with Dresden and Morgan, but Morgan spends most of his time unconscious!

It does have to be said -- Mouse is probably the best character in this whole series, and I loved the way Harry kept coming home to his "defusing" of tense situations by way of sheer body weight. A good chuckle every time.

I think this story will lead to the places the characters need to go in future adventures, but Butcher's game was just not quite all there this time.

A good wrap up to an enjoyable series, but really could have used more editing. Lots of wasted time getting from here to there when there could have been more actual adventuring and storytelling going on. Really, this series could have been two much shorter books. The story supposedly takes place over about eighteen months, and yet it's dragged out to feel like about five years.

But, I really liked the characters and the tone of the book, and the new approach to the cost of magic. Just wish it were more tightly written.

I adored this book. Eric Kraft's prose is simply wonderful, and his characters and ideas are so fresh and bright that I had a smile on my face through most of the story.

This is another book that is not plot-driven, but rather idea-driven. There is lots of plot, and two other stories within the main story, but the point is what these events and the characters' reactions to them have to say about the very nature of humanity, not "what comes next." The relationship between Peter and his wife has such an honesty to it that is very powerful.

And Baldy, the radio ventriloquist, is simply priceless.

There are three endings, in a way, and while I didn't really enjoy two of them, they had to be that way for the third, sublime, ending, to really work.

This one is going to stick with me for a very, very long time, and you can bet I'll go looking for everything Eric Kraft has ever written.

A comfortable read, true to DeLint's style, but I'm not convinced by his translation of Newford to the Southwest, having lived here for almost two years now. . . I love his writing and his characters but this one kinda fell flat. I don't think it will stick with me for long.

Meh. Not the most interesting mystery, and with the tired old cliche of the "big reveal" speech at the end instead of allowing the reader to go along with the solving of it. Takes itself much too seriously, and is full of typos and grammatical errors, to boot. I shouldn't have to proofread a published book, right?

I like these books, because the story is well told, but this one needs more editing. The concept that elves only communicate in their own, mannerly, question-less way is interesting, but there are only so many conversations about tea that I really need to read about. Some of them were well done in the character development department, but there were about five too many.

I also would have liked to spend a little more time with Vestakia and Idalia rather than so much time in Kellen's own head.

However, the story takes place in a very interesting world, and is a good departure for Lackey in that her own style is definitely stretched by her co-author -- but all of the good things you'd expect from a Lackey book are here, too. I have the next one on my nightstand already. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Cilarnen, and the end of Kellen's year and a day commitment to Shalkan, too.

Very enjoyable, though I think the edition I read had some typos in the dates, since it went back and forth between two different years in one section. The story can get confusing if you don't pay attention to the dated entries, because sometimes a year or more goes by in the space of one page.

Also because of the diary format, if you don't have a good background in the history of the French Revolution, you may be a bit lost. There are a number of places where it is assumed that you know the names of major figures and what happens to them, and they're mentioned in a kind of shorthand. This makes sense in the context of the book, but may require the reader to do some light research to make sense of it all!

But the book is well written, and engaging, and the character of Rose/Josephine is very well developed. I'm looking forward to the next two books.