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hummingbird-games · 4 months

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2023 In Review (Indie Games)

Last year's! | 2021

I apologize in advance for how long this might be. As a reminder, I don't bash games here so even if I hated something with every fiber of my being...I ain't sharing. As a second reminder, my more in depth reviews and live blogging has moved to Gem's Game Gems so I don't clutter the HBG's main blog. Okay. ON WITH THE REVIEW!!

DEMOS

Diffraction (Demo)- A rainy day otome indeed. I love the quiet gentleness of this game, the two romance options, and the fact that our MC is a photographer and struggling with her art and stack of life "failures" (because...SAME!!)

Alaris - I was asleep and now I am awake: I came late for the advertised fae and dragon lore, stayed seated and waiting for Fenir zjgjdf. Oh, and I guess the mystery surrounding our MC's abilities LOL.

The Summit Library - When I say I was maaaaaad when I realized I blew through chapter 1 and would have to go back to waiting for more content??? LOL, I was very miffed. Anyhoo, check out this title for the gorgeous art, another intriguing mystery (like what is *up* with the magic in the poor library?? who or what is to blame?? 👀) and of course the lovely characters we've been introduced to thus far.

Of Sense and Soul - I'm a regency romance girl. Like after you strip away the other stuff, I am but a poor woman with simple needs: a good ass love story 🤧💛 It's about the yearning and the slow burn and the will they/won't they/PLEASEEE they...I've never been so charmed by a demo, and the full game is going to be amazing I just know it!

Made Marion - This project is a game I've been keeping tabs on for a hot minute but hadn't taken the time to sit and properly enjoy the demo. I'M SO GLAD I DID!!! It's in early access now, so I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to carve out some time to play, but guysss Velvet Cupcake is doing the Thing?!? No idea which love interest I'll go for first, but I had a fun time meeting the Nottingham peeps in the demo.

Herotome (Super Demo) - Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh my GOSHHH. Where do I even began?? (Really the question is where the hell do I end because this is one of those projects I talk about a lot/think about a lot and surprisingly haven't run out of things to say zkjfksjd). Another game I've been following for a while, it 100% lives up to the superhero genre in its aesthetic, the characters you interact with, the music and sound design, and of course the slowly unfurling story. Jade and Mia had come out as my top faves, Warden is still there, like hovering in the backgroud, shhhh but I have a special place in my heart for Griffin too (that conversation we have with her?? I have so many screenshots just so I can go back and reread and sear the words in my brain. Like a weirdo. Yup.)

Celestial Crowns - Stats building, celestial royalty, dating sim where you fuck around and find out your choices directly affect your MC's personality?? I'm sat. I supported the Kickstarter and now I try to practice patience for the full game's release siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh.

OTOME/JOSEI JAM

Please note this is a SUPER abridged list for my sanity and I fell a little more in love with these 2 jams with each entry I played...

Intertwine - As embarrassing as it sounds, I've never given much thought to the "red string" thing, and I consume more than enough romance media LOL!! But Van is suuuuuch a beautiful man, the UI for this game is so interactive and lovely, the music is ALSO lovely, just lovely-love all the way around teehee. (Also this game encourages replayabillity so like, do with that info what you will.)

Spring Boy [Demo] - I believe this game is going through a complete rehaul, so my thoughts and feelings refer to the original jam entry I played. The art is bright and cute and it's a super super short demo, but I was intrigued by the other student we meet on our mission to plead with our professor about our bombed exam lol!

Assignment Due: Project Blue - IRl group projects??? Suck absolute ass. Group projects with a guy name Asher?? Suddenly it's my new favorite thing in the world 😁

Cryptid Campaign Manager [DEMO] - Remember the last time I looked over a cryptid dating sim??? Remember how I was SUCH a fool?? Good thing I didn't make that mistake again!! The prologue is such a tease but you get an idea of what the full game is gonna be like, and I'm excited to see where my career involving love (and politics) goes!

Heart Cage [Demo] - Yoooooo I stay my ass far far far away from yanderes (could never get into the trope or the character type). WELP. Guess I just needed to keep searching because I really downloaded this off a whim--well, the whim being one of my fellow dev peers playing and rating-- and proceeded to get sucked in 🤧I thought being a detective would be the highlight, but I guuuueeesssss I was more into the romance options than I thought. Oops.

Evernight - I tried to explain what this game meant to me on the side blog, but words failed me. I still don't know what to say other than I loved it?? Which is like ummm I say I love everything, and yeah I'm easy to please BUT Y'ALLLLLL if you play no other game, play this one. Please. Date a werewolf. Or a vampire. Or a fae. Plz. Also figuring out the mystery of your MC's abilities and past is just delightful, ugh.

Bright Oak (demo) - Anotha one I wrote about on the side blog!!! Play this one!!! The writing is lush and atmospheric and the characters are all delightful and it's another game with a mystery to untangle!

The Faithfulness of the Universe- This one gets the award for most unique all around entry that I played. Theeeeee prettiest pixel art to bless my eyeballs, and this tasty mystery concerning Fate and witch Faustina's future (or lack thereof 👀) and what it all means. As a player I very much want to know what it all means!

A Cup For All Seasons - Another game that needs its flowers y'all. It's short but super healing and super cozy and the voice acting and music really tie the gaming experience together???

The Working Woman's Guide to Burning Bridges - DEMO - It's the way I played the demo twice and I've been thinking about it ever since 😭😭😭🙃 obviously life happens and things come up, plus this was a demo. But. BUT!!! I am on my hands and knees prayinnggg the team gets together again to finish the game. I love playing as a stressed, lowkey bitter hot mess who doesn't have her life together 😂somehow the fictional version is soooo much more entertaining!!!

Keyframes (Spring Demo) - After the game College Craze, this is legit THE college, slice of life visual novel of my dreams. I cannot wait for the updated demo next year, and the Kickstarter whenever that rolls around. And now that the developer is on Tumblr, I've definitely been stalking the account and reading each new post like it's my day/night/weekend job 🤧

Hello Counsel 💋 - Okay I take it back, Evernight is like a 20/10 but Hello Counsel is like an 100/10 👁️👄👁️ This game is necessary for my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, alright? The banter ✅ the character designs ✅ the music ✅ the sizzling chemistry between Poise and Salem ✅ I wish this game had more buzz because IT'S SO GOOD!!! (also the dev, Miseri, is who I wanna be when I grow up. I've made it through almost their whole backlog of games and there are no misses and EVERY game is different from the rest and it makes it hard for a toodler dev--ME--to cope LOL)

Candied Hearts - Isekaied into a candy themed game?? Sign me TF UP!!! (Peppermint I love you dearly, you must understand.)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

The Knight's Dilemma - I don't even know how I originally stumbled upon this??? I just know it had been in my backlog for a hot minute and I was intrigued enough to save it way back when. Y'ALL WHY DIDN'T I PLAY SOONER SKJFHFJFH! There's a couple different endings, I loved the voice direction, AND it's such a simple concept of a game that was just executed beautifully.

Trouble Comes Twice - If I had to make a top 5 list of romance VNs, guess who makes the list?? Guess. Guess guess guess. Have you guessed yet??? LOL! I have been in love with TCT since it's development days and with each passing month, waiting in anticipation, playing the Pateron beta builds, screaming on the main blog about every single thought I had about Jace and Hazel (shoutout to Jace for helping me figure out *me*) Lol if you're curious about said thoughts, those posts are on this blog and not the side blog.

Aelfric the Wondrous - 10/10 would love to forget my first play through JUST to have that experience fresh again 😭😭💛Cute and funny and a wonderful parody type game all around.

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 - Goodness, there's no excuse for why this took me years to finish but anyhoo, I finished, I loved it, I recommend it! It's romantic and achingly authentic and the art is soooo gorgeous I literally can't stand it 😭

The Things You Do For Love - Unhinged yandere manages to entertain and garner sympathy and laughter from Gemini. And that poly ending is chef's kiss too????

Band Camp Boyfriend - There are a handful of games I found and loved before I began my game development journey, and this is one of them. BCB is so dear to me, because of the story and characters but also because of the Dynamic Duo creators and their team behind the scenes. I was never a band kid I was a chorus kid but just as the band geeks loved this game to pieces, us normal folks do too!! Even the boys who I didn't like I STILL managed to find joy in playing their routes (still have a few more to finish at the time of this posting lol, GOTTA GET THE FINAL ROUTE YO). Anyway, this game more than delivered for me and I hope more people keep discovering it!!

Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED] - While only Chronicle 1 is out at the time of this posting, I already know that the 2nd and 3rd parts are going to be just as amazing???? I wrote about this one on the side blog, so here's my copypaste that still rings true:

I love TNP (The Nightmare Prince) but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me.

A Date with Death - I wrote about this on the side blog--again--. The demo. And then right after finishing a route. And then again where I was fully awake and still managed to sound deranged. No copypaste for that, I shall be nice. But yeah!! Another game where I was screaming at the sky about how much I love it and how I'll never know peace as long as I live.

Our Life: Baxter DLC - I need to offer an official apology to both Cove and Derek because falling head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the parking lot, falling again but down a manhole for Baxter's infuriating ass was NOT on my 2023 bingo board??? HELLO???? I bought his DLC just to complete my OL collection. Was not expecting to love it this much. Was not expecting to be called to write fanfic and abandon all responsibilities to do this. WHILE DOWN WITH COVID TOO. Allow me to play the song of my people. *Send in the Clowns plays*

Our Cinderella - (this is so funny I'm taking about a side game before the main game LOLOLOLOL) Guys. Guysss. You guyyyysss 🥹if you're looking for a cozy, hilarious, equally oddly and wonderfully sweet short game, this is the one!! You may have your personal favorite Iggy ship (like me) but all the pairings are so amazing and just make sense lol!

Wylde Flowers - This is the only non visual novel game on here but it gets the spotlight because I did NOT spend 90+ hours on this game to gatekeep this beauty. No. It the coziest, the funniest, the funnest, the most addictive Switch game (after Teacup) I've ever played.

Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin - Life kicked my butt and then sat on me SO while I finally got my grubby hands on the full copy, I still have only played the entirety of the demo. But. We will return to this in 2024 and hopefully I'll have a full review for the next wrap up!

Our Wonderland - I looked back at the side blog and I can't believe it was only THIS year that I started OW??? Because I'd known of the game and the dev for longer than that??? So basically what I'm saying is that I was chicken shit for longer than I've been in love with this world that Developer Carrot has created kjzhhshggj. But OMG to get me, who is scared oh so easily to get hella invested in this clearly labeled horror game??????????????? And even with shit gets super absurd and hella disturbing, I cannot stop playing. At the time of this post, I'm only in Act 4, hence the category above, but it's only because I play each act in a sitting and lose track of space and time and myself. That's a compliment btw.

...

Okie!! That's 2023 in a nutshell! I played a looooot of really good games this year and while I would have liked to talk about them all, I think this list provides a nice overview.

Let me know if we share any favorites!

- Gemini 💛

#gaming year in review #gamedev rambles #yeah no I cannot keep creating more work for me #2024 I am GOING to make a shorter list 😭🤧#hmmmm fun drinking game:#take a shot every time the word 'mystery' is used ☠️

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caleohateclub · 8 months

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ughhh i hate drawing backgrouds (so i used a stock image)

#heroes of olympus #valgrace #valgrace fanart #leo valdez #jason grace #hoo #hoo fanart

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kapod2137 · 28 days

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any advices to make it more detailed because i hate how the backgroud looks (by wich i mean that its boring)

#art #oc #żabka #idk what im doing but its cool #promocja na hot dog!

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kirianyume · 10 months

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After half an eternity, here have something :'D I know, I already uploaded a very similar artwork... Literally the same sketch, too... But back when I drew Zhongli's Birthday Art, I wanted to do it again, putting way more time and effort into it. So... yeah, have Zhongli playing the Erhu again xD But much better, I feel. This Artwork did give me a hard time tho, because when I worked on it, I hated what I did. But... that's fine. it happens sometimes, because brains are like that sometimes. At least mine. I also - of course - painted the Dragonqueller of Nantianmen, so that I could it into the backgroud of this fanart, so yeah. I hope you like it! By the way, I upload on ko-fi quite regularily, if you didn't know! Twice a week, to be precise! And you can support me over there, too, if you want! :D

#digital artist #fanart #digital art #art on tumblr #artist on kofi #genshin zhongli #genshin impact zhongli #zhongli #genshinimpact art #genshinimpactfanart #genshin art #game fanart #erhu #string instrument #landscape #painting #drawing

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ofbreathandflame · 9 months

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Appreciate your enthusiasm as a teacher. My ask was about CULTURAL APPROBATION. You are using still living mythology and tradition to suit your ends and to fit your needs. Thief just like Riordan.

*heavy sigh*

im tired of these discussion, but this is important so i will talk about it.

this is such an interesting ask. bc this is what you said in your initial inbox:

you talk about racism in some books and then go on to prize percy Jackson without any comment about it's blatant cultural appropriation. Maybe you could occasionally try to expand outside usamercica too.

you made an assumption. and you asked about cultural APPROPRIATION. and i addressed everything i did as an educator to circumvent that. all of the ways i discussed with my students the problems in the text, even as i kept them engaged with it (its my JOB).

this ask was meant to discredit the ongoing discussion i have on this blog abt racism in books, you also made an assumption abt my backgroud again with the intent of discrediting the conversation about racism on this blog. i corrected you, and told you (1) that i am not from just america, and that i split my time between my home country (naija) and here as i am both black american and nigerian. so there was this idea that i couldn't possibly understand the conversation outside of the west - when literally my whole blog consists of critiques against western ideas in literature. (2) i clarified that the book that they're reading is mandated curriculum that i supplement with culturally relevant materials such as challenging the idea of what is considered 'western civilization' which includes the ideas of americanization. so - the idea that i was only teaching them the book without discussing potential problems and ideals being pushed was addressed. hence, why i discussed my role as an educator (3) if this was truly about racism and approbation then what was the point of undermining my discussion about anti-black racism to then make a point abt...racism? or - to assume that i wouldn't see the problems in a text i enjoy. ive LITERALLY addressed the problems both on this blog and on my last

so - there's the idea that my critique of racism is only relegated to the states which wasn't true, there's the idea that im teaching the books to the children under the guise of absolute truth, which i am also not. and then there's this ask, which ignores all of that in favor for an argument that's not going anywhere. what am i stealing? what are you even trying to ask?

as i said in my other post:

it’s crazy bc i literally have pictures of my board of those VERY things bc it was one of my first days teaching. like im passionate abt the issue of racism and colonialism on here what makes u think i wouldn’t be just as passionate in real life???? and if u know the rhythm of my blog and the things i talk abt what also makes u think i wouldn’t see those issues? or that i would even think to have a problem talking abt it. all u had to do was ask: ‘hey how do you feel abt the cultural appropriation’ or ‘how do you talk abt the issues in your class’ or even ‘hey this piece of literature has things that makes me uncomfortable have you noticed them’ and then that would have been a dialogue. it would have been a fruitful conversation. i hate when y’all demonize the conversation abt racism (and anti-black racism) just to WHAT? discredit my conversations abt racism. like wouldn’t u on the surface level agree with my points? like what do u gain here?

in short, there were other ways to go about this. you made assumptions, all of which were wrong. you took a harmless post i made and made an entire argument in your head abt it. read it and weep, but literally whats your deal. if it was something that bothered you, and you thought maybe i didn't know abt it why didn't you ask? why didn't u just say 'hey this book may have harmful things in it?' and ofc i already knew these things bc its curriculum but its so weird for u to come at me with these issues instead of just saying what i said above. anywho, if u make it to the bottom of this i hope you heal.

#anywho i literally have pictures of my boards as we have these discussions.#i have pictures of my lesson plans like u literally are not making ant sense #i hope you find peace and if my blog bothers u maybe just block me and touch some grass while your at it.

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lawttes · 4 months

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I hope this doesn't come across as mean spirited in any way, just wanted to add to a discussion and need to get these thoughts off my chest after seeing your Saltburn post.

After reading/listening to a bunch of interviews/q&as with Barry Keoghan and Emeral Fenell i'm pretty sure that at least the intention was that he's not 100% honest with himself/us in that monologue and it shouldn't be taken at face value.

For one Barry has said something like that Olivers motivation changes throghout the film and that he (Oliver) is often confused and not completly aware of what he really wants.

Emerald has said multiple times that the first idea about the film she had was someone saying "i didn't love him" and then licking that persons bathtub and that therefore that that person's obviously not being entirely truthful and that line is part of how he starts the monologue so i'm pretty sure we aren't supossed to take the whole thing at face value.

I can't remember which of the multiple live q&as you can find on youtube it is but i also remember her responding in a after the film q&a to someone seemingly having that same read of the film i've seen so many people have of Oliver being a mastermind that had this whole plan laid out from the start and she said something like that it was in part actually more like responsive to the situation from moment to moment

Like it starts with him seeing Felix and being like "i wanna get closer to that guy" and since he has seemingly always just been good at knowing what people want and giving it to them (another thing emerald has been reapeating in a lot of q&as) he knows that setting up the bike and drinks at the bar situation and a sob story of a family backgroud will get Felix's attention but then like he always does Felix get's bored and starts pulling away so Olivers like "aw fuck what do i do? oh i know just up the story by saying my dad died" and that does make Felix invite him to Saltburn but that wasn't like the concious end goal of that action he just wanted to get Felix's attention back in that moment and i don't believe Felix dying in any way was a concious goal at any other time but pretty much right before he did it. His obsession with him comprising of part loving him, hating him and wanting to be him just escalated to that point.

Now, you could say that with so many (hard to say but maybe even the majority of) people "misunderstanding" the film/that part as him accuratly, sincerly and 100% honestly revealing that he masterminded and planned the whole thing from pretty much the beginning that they (Emerald & Co.) just did a bad job of getting that across which would be fair.

As someone that didn't read the film/monologue that way and then was validated by all the q&as i've seen i can't lie that it hasn't been at least a little frustating that so many people "misread" that part (or take it "too" honestly) but i would say that it's more the fault of the film actually not making that intention clear enough. Also "death of the author" and all that, i guess.

But i would recommend checking out all the after film q&as with Emeral Fenell you can find on youtube anyway if you're interested.

P.S 100% agree what you said about Felix tho

hey, not mean-spirited at all! i’m always open to discussion, media analysis is rarely about being right or wrong :)

it could surely be read in that way - i have not seen the q&a’s, i’ll check them out! i think i personally focused on the class commentary because of how much of a trend it is in cinema at the moment. discussions of social status and class have always been apart of media (i was talking about maupassant in my previous post, which goes all the way back to the 19th century), but it has become more prevalent in mainstream cinema nowadays. everyone is trying their hand at it, and i would argue that parasite winning the oscar for best picture reinforced the idea that class commentary in movies was socially acceptable enough to still win awards.

my main issue with saltburn is that the same story has been done multiple times before, and apart from cinematography, i fail to see what saltburn brings to the table. @tigerfancy mentioned the talented mr ripley earlier in my notes, which i’d forgotten about, but it is very similar and strikes that balance between obsessive, unreliable narrator and mastermind social climber quite clearly. someone i know irl also mentioned summer of 85 (été 85) and how in her eyes, saltburn is essentially a ripoff of that. it’s all inspiration; but seeing all these other stories that deal with this nuance more adequately unfortunately makes saltburn look clumsy in comparison.

maybe oliver is indeed not being 100% truthful, and he didn’t actually mastermind anything beyond his first meeting with oliver up to the point where he is invited to saltburn. personally, though, it does not make the monologue any less gimmicky to me. maybe the intention was not clear enough. maybe saltburn was trying to pull from too many of its inspirations and lost itself along the way. but i totally respect your interpretation of the film! and it would indeed be much better if the monologue at the end is oliver trying to convince himself rather than him revealing earnestly that he masterminded the whole thing.

#saltburn #saltburn movie #emerald fennell #barry keoghan

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seospicybin · 8 months

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I had a very rough morning, cried for 30 mins with latest minho's live on the backgroud and then regained my peace, kinda? I just needed to let everything out instead of just absorbing things and people problems.

So thank you for your answer Eff, really really do.

I am really much enjoying this journey into kpop and everything related to it with a lighter heart, enjoying things at my pace and ..... jsut enjoying. Yes. And you're definitely one of the people I should be thanking 🫂 Sending you the warmest and biggest hug ever 'cause you really deserve it!

I am also trying to stay as healthy as possible, sometimes failing sometimes not but we're trying!

How you doing, my love? Are you feeling good? Are you staying hydrate? Eating enough?

That sounds like a way to release stress. I approve 👍🏻

Anyway, I ate too well. I tend to eat a lot when I'm on my period. It's hormones I guess. And I've been planning to start working out again because I don't feel good abt my body not that I hate my body but I feel like something is not right so I have to start doing some exercises but I can't seem to find the time. When I do find the time, I feel so tired or I just keep making excuses not to do it 😂🤣

#spicy mail #Marti baby

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rabbitknighted · 6 months

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why does god hate me so. why is it that the ONE SONG that i want to use as backgroud music. simply does not exist on youtube and instead its a bunch of versions with singing. like NO i just want this piano one. WHY is that so hard oh my GODDDD

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ourcollectivebookclub · 1 year

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The Atlas Six

First of all I have to admit that I had high hopes for that book. I was quite excited to read it and couldn’t wait for it to be translated into my language.

And boy, was I dissappointed.

The plot synopsis looked promising. The characters seemed intriguing (I will talk about it more in the second part of that review). Basically it felt like the perfect mix of classic dark academia and fanstasy setting with a hint of forbidden knowledge and ancient hisory in the background.

In a way the story was… acceptable. I did go through it all. But for me it felt flat and boring at times. Olivie Blake was constantly trying to set the mood for something big to happen. But after so many pages of waiting for something significant it was just not enjoyable. And the thing that amazes me even more is that event at points where the important fact was revealed the tone of the narration was not changing even slightly.

The whole story was a one big constance.

To sum up the generic part of that review I’d say it’s a book to read when you don’t have any other on hand. Just don’t get too excited about it.

Now my favourite part - spoilers!

I’d like to talk about the characters and some main plot points of the book. Oh, and the ending.

Characters:

First of all - they started off great. Each and every one of them was shown to us in an enigmatic situation, we got to see a bit of their mysterious backgrounds. And then it just got worse.

Two (or at times even three or four) out of the main six characters were not even that „main”.

The actual main characters were Libby and Parisa and they did add significance to the story.

The sole role of Nico was to be the second part of Libby&Nico duet. His Gideon driven story had no influence on the plot.

Callum was going to be such an interesting person. He was inexplicably awful and seemed like a villain for the most part. I absolutely hated him but I saw people stating that at the end he earned their sympathy. So I waited. And got disappointed. Because we were fed the classic villain story „I’m mean because nobody loved me”. And wow, that was just so lame. Also he was barely a part of the whole grup.

Tristan had some potential to become an important character but his story basically consisted of two arcs: being in love with Parisa and being rude to everybody else, being in love with Libby. Talk about character development.

On the note of character development I saw some comments online complaining that there was none included. My question: how can there be any character development happening when absolutely nothing happens in the story? The characters basically exist in a villa full of books doing, well, nothing, really.

The biggest loss for me was Reina - I absolutly fell in love with her during her first chapter. And then she was basically non-existent. And I mean it literally. If she was not included in the story, nothing would have changed. Even her chapters were about other people. Her purpose in the story was… I don’t even know what it was. And it infuriates me.

Libby was supossed to be an annoying nerd who was written as neither of those.

Parisa was a big walking red flag. A girl who manipulated people with intercourse? Bold choice.

Dalton Ellery? Character charisma of a cooked carrot.

Atlas Blakely? The apparent master-mind of it all? The buildup to that particular point of the story was (again) non-existent. Atlas had the same chance to be the actual villain of the story as Tristan’s ex-fiancee. That reveal was painful to read.

And finally - Ezra. I don’t even know how to comment that. We get a guy with no personality. His only encounters we see are with Libby (who finally dumps him). We get one out-of-context chapter of him talking and (revealed at the end) Atlas listening.

And then when I thought nothing worse will happen in the story we get an info-dump of… like the whole backgroud of it all. Again, with no buildup. It’s not even a plot twist. You usually can suspect the facts revealed in the plot twist. Here, we had no material to base the suspicions on.

Oh, and at the end? When Ezra turns to be the head of the Forum? Shocking! Only, what is Forum? Do we know anything about it? Olivie Blake did not give us any information about the organization for us to suspect that they are… significnt or important in any way. Ezra could have been a head of &%$& and my reaction would have been the same.

Plot:

That book was about nothing. It’s amazing because it consists of over 400 pages.

The Alexandrian Library played no part in the story. I was hoping to learn something about it, to get to unravel some supposedly ancient knowledge. But nope.

Also at points it felt like The Secret History by Donna Tartt: a peculiar group of young people attending lectures with the teacher monologuing eloquently, spending their time doing questionable activities - also somebody is going to die. At the hands of the rest of the group. The stories are really similar.

Dalton monologuing is basically Julian vol. 2 just more boring. At some points I felt like I’ve already read that book.

And my favourite part - the ending. What on Earth was that? I don’t think I actually have the words to describe it. It made no sense. We were informed about things that should have made it more clear but didn’t. Ezra kidnaps his ex-girlfriend not even because he wants to save her, but just because he knows her features better than he knows the others’. What a great reason. Altas pretends to care or actually cares - I don’t know, he’s so bland. Ezra is a part of the master-mind plan. The end.

All in all, not a great read. What makes me sad is that it seems like now it’s enough to slap the dark academia theme and TikTok goes crazy. The internet got me excited about the book and the book disappointed me.

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