Finally finished this, and I will preface by saying I have mixed feelings about this book.

Two elements I liked were Buehlman’s prose and world building. There were songs interspersed throughout that I thoroughly enjoyed and felt that they really added to the culture of the world.

However, I had difficulty getting through this book and had to pause for a bit to read a few other books because I didn’t really care for the main character. Kinch felt a bit sexist at times and it was hard to root for him when challenges arose.

I initially picked this up because it was recommended to me as someone who enjoys D&D. There is an element of a D&D styled adventure for the main group of characters, but Kinch’s “wittiness” felt cringe most of the time, and some of the world building felt like Buehlman took Irish culture and language and slapped a sticker on it to call it his own. Other elements felt like a gross continuation of long used Irish negative stereotypes which felt wild to be reading in the big 2026.

The horror elements were done quite well, I will say.

We’ll see if I continue the series.

reason #1078 to be team bear >> team men

super easy to read. plot points came together well with very minor exceptions, wasn’t as adrenaline-charged as i was led to believe but certainly still lit. the switch up in part 2 really made this. overall was definitely good, just not five stars good for me. maybe if millie’s personality was built up a little earlier i would’ve been more invested in her; millie in the beginning was just a disgruntled employee with semi-messy behavior but millie in part 3 was great. nina’s character however was fabulous the whole way through.

well someone likes fancy adjectives. i truly did not enjoy this book, finished it out of a sliver of hope the plot would come through (it didn’t). the writing style felt like i was being looked down upon; in fact the high and mighty sentence structure was distracting. there were so many side thoughts (and weird listing) that it interrupted the flow of the plot. the end was not satisfying, didn’t finish any storylines, and didn’t explain anything. and god the characters, the only one i liked was rose. the rest of them were meh or scum of the earth (@ amanda, how dare you be so judging of your daughter’s body). and all the negative character traits and random comments on race/age/wealth didn’t even do anything to add to the story. the premise had potential but was treated as a passing thought that really only kicked in the last few pages.

“to the world.” this is obviously a smart, funny, ridiculously entertaining, highly beloved, ineffable book. characters are fantastic, story is fantastic, writing and humor is goated. i had some trouble with the pacing and flipping between parties, was also bummed that aziraphale/crowley we’re not as front and center as i expected. i hold the show on such a high pedestal so trying to remind myself that this is the blueprint; it sooooo closely follows the book and many of the most quotable lines are lifted right from the pages. this is wildly biased but i think this would’ve been 4 stars for me if i read it before watching the show. it feels like a long read but it’s something you could go back to multiple times, there’s tons of nuggets and little jokes.