thistle_and_verse's reviews
299 reviews

This is a short story collection, and the lengths and genres vary. Although I think the brevity worked to some story's disadvantage, there were at least 5 stories in here that I re-read several times ("Shift", "Message in a Bottle", "Left Foot, Right", "Blushing", and "Ours is the Prettiest"). Even when some of the plots were predictable, the writing style and descriptions were very interesting. If the story felt too short, there were still new ideas/ images introduced for me to mull over.

I enjoyed this book more than the 1st. I felt like there were less lulls in the book, and Clayton explored the tension among the Belles more. I really enjoyed Camille's run-in with an ex-flame. It felt very satisfying while still being true to life. We also see more of the gris and the lives of those opposed to beauty work, which I had a lot of questions about in the 1st book. I think there are still some holes in the world building. There was a one-off scene where a security advisor mentioned that under Princess Sophie, Orleans was having difficulty maintaining its borders, and I realized that while I had a decent idea of how life within Orleans worked, I had no idea how it interacted with other countries or maintained itself, and I couldn't even guess.

I really liked Camille as a main character. She was very well fleshed-out, and we got to see her flaws, which I appreciated. I thought her relationship with Princess Sophia was very compelling, and I liked how they were foils for each other. I thought the descriptions throughout were great. It really kept the atmosphere (I just imagined everything being delicate and expensive and beautiful and like a Barbie dreamhouse fantasy) consistent and contrasted with some of the more horrific elements. Pacing was an issue for me. I thought the world was interesting, but I kept skipping ahead to find major plot points so I'd find motivation to keep reading. Towards the end, the rules of the world got a bit muddy, but it was worth the read. I enjoyed how there are different types of beauty in this world, but I would've liked to see the bounds of what is beautiful pushed even more.

I enjoyed this in a messy way until around the 3/4 mark (A lot of the minor plot twists seemed obvious to me, but I didn't mind seeing them coming because I disliked who they were happening to). Then it stopped being fun. Zelie is still deeply hurt and acting out of fear. Amari is treacherous and pretty out of character. I warmed up to her a lot in the 1st book, but she quickly exhausted my good will this time around. A character I was hoping to never hear from again is back and taking up way too much of the plot. Roen was fun for a second, but he quickly stopped being chaotic and unpredictable. The ending made me angry and not in a good way.

A fun read. A new jumbie is introduced, Mama D'Leau, controller of the oceans. She is a mercurial antagonist, terrifying due to her short temper but not without her endearing moments. There was a very touching storyline about the mermaids who live with Mama D'Leau and their origins. I appreciate the layers that Baptiste gives her antagonists. The settings switch between Corinne's island home, beneath the ocean, and Ghana. While I enjoyed the narrative opportunities afforded by the new locations, I felt that having multiple of them interfered with the deep sense of place I loved about the previous book. Of the 3 settings, the ocean was my favorite with its sense of mystery, the fantastic, and danger. This book has much less of the creepy factor than the 1st, which I also missed.

Full disclosure: I got an ARC. My favorites from this collection were Rapunzel, the Night Maiden; the Sea and the Stars; and Omega Star: Genesis. I generally liked the fairy tales better than the scifi. Townsend had some creative takes that I hadn't seen in other re-imaginings. The fairytales worked better for me because the story telling is usually sparse, and Townsend is able to match that style. That style is disorienting when the stories are set in new, completely unfamiliar worlds. This led me to feel disconnected from the action and not invested in what should have been big moments in the plot.

Established authors and then new authors (tickled me how some of the 'up and comers' are now big names)

I really like the art. It reminds me of woodcarvings almost. I enjoyed the moments of humor. I was intrigued by the premise, but I'm not big on the plot. It seems like there's a lot going on, so there will be much to explore in future installments.

It's a ghost story of sorts. A great but painful read. Compelling family.