smoking section – The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles! I blatantly refuse to believe that we’re actually halfway through September…nope…

Sorry that this review’s coming a little later than you all are probably used to; I had a ton of homework to do this afternoon, but I’ve got it all done for today, so here I am now! Better late than never, I suppose.

I’ve been following and loving Sally Green’s Smoke Thieves trilogy for about a year, gobbling up books 1 and 2 in weeks flat. It’s one of the most immersive, detailed, and gripping fantasies that I’ve ever read, and now that I’ve read book 3, I can say it’s true for all three books. The Burning Kingdoms came out just under a month ago (August 25), and I was able to snag it a few days after its release when I promptly blew the contents of my bookstore gift card. In short? The Burning Kingdoms was a perfect end to a near perfect series.

WARNING: This review likely contains spoilers for books 1 and 2, The Smoke Thieves and The Demon World, so I suggest you tread lightly if you intend to read them and haven’t yet!

Click here for my review of book 1!

Click here for my review of book 2!

Enjoy this week’s review!

The Burning Kingdoms by Sally Green: 9780425290279 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

The Burning Kingdoms (The Smoke Thieves, #3)–Sally Green

Catherine, Tash, Ambrose, Edyon, and March dedicated their lives to halt the impending war in its tracks. But despite their efforts, war has come, and it could cost them their lives–and the lives of their nations.

King Aloysius has unleashed his invincible boy army, powered by demon smoke, across all who dare cross his path. There, March finds an opportunity to reunite with Edyon, his beloved, after a betrayal saw them torn apart and him banished. Edyon grapples with his newfound power as the heir to the throne of Calidonia, and Tash must find her way out of the demon world.

Meanwhile, Catherine must grapple with the fate of her country and her secret addiction, while Ambrose is determined to win back her heart at all costs. Their paths will collide in order to avert this great war–but will they make it out alive?

I Did A Bad Thing GIFs | Tenor — – Every single one of the main characters at some point in this book

Admit it: everybody–yes, everybody–who has ever dyed their hair has done the exact same thing as Geratan–dye it, put on a hat, and then dramatically rip it off in front of everybody. The only proper way to reveal your new hair color, if you ask me.

All of my fellow book bloggers and readers know the feeling that comes along with finishing the final book in a series. It’s like reuniting with an old friend, only to have them leave you. No matter what, though, their memory will live on in you forever.

That’s the feeling that finishing a great series gives you, and certainly the one that The Burning Kingdoms gave me. This entire series is criminally underrated, a true force to be reckoned with in the world of YA fantasy, and I’m delighted to say that book 3 is no exception!

The Burning Kingdoms is definitely one of those books where you’re just being dragged along with the character’s bad decisions–five POVs, five times the grave mistakes! (Quite a lot of “March, no–” “MARCH YES” going on). However, it isn’t to the point where you’re internally groaning in frustration, because it propels quite a lot of action, and provides for character development in all five.

As always, I loved seeing how the relationships between the characters developed. March is still my favorite of the bunch, but I had such a blast getting back into all five of their heads and exploring their internal conflicts. Green does such a masterful job of writing both authentic characters, but genuine development for them as well.

The immersive and detailed worldbuilding and politics were as sharp as ever, making for a novel that I could imagine nearly every detail of. There’s plenty of action and drama to spare, and I enjoyed every page. The Burning Kingdoms is a finale that truly has something for everyone–and delivers on every possible aspect.

All in all, a beautiful end to an underrated and immersive fantasy. 4.5 stars!

GIF by ABC Network - Find & Share on GIPHY — Me @ this series

The Burning Kingdoms is the final book in Sally Green’s Smoke Thieves trilogy, preceded by The Smoke Thieves (book 1) and The Demon World (book 2).

Today (September 15) is also the start of National Latinx Heritage Month, so sometime this week, I’ll also be posting a list of Latinx YA reads to celebrate. Stay tuned! 🙂

Today’s song:

Brain: oh, so math is boring you?

Me: yep, you got that right

Brain: so why don’t I get this REALLY DEPRESSING song stuck in your head–

Me: WAIT NO

That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

PLOT TWIST! This is NOT a book review!

*BOOM*

Yep.

As I’ve told you on various occasions, St. Vincent has been my favorite singer for a while. And I’ve been waiting for new material from her for 3 years. And finally, last Friday, MASSEDUCTION was finally released! But, after listening to the album, my feelings were a bit mixed.

Just a note beforehand, I’m going to use the same method I use for rating books (1-WORST SONG EVER, 5-okay, I guess, 10-OMGOMGOMGOMG LOVE) Also, I’m not going to review “New York” because I already talked about it a bit in a previous post. So yeah, here goes!

TRACK 1: “Hang On Me” RATING: 7/10

A nice balance of melancholy and hope, a little reminiscent of St. Vincent’s earlier work. Kind of poignant and endearing in a way. Not her best, but certainly not her worst. A lot better than some of her other stuff on this album…(prepare for more saltiness later in the review…)

TRACK 2: “Pills” RATING: 8/10

When I first heard about this song, my mom told me that she had read an article that said that Cara Delevigne* was going to sing a little bit in this song. I basically wanted to puke in my mouth, and thus, my expectations were pretty low for this song. But as you can assume from my rating, this is actually one of my favorite songs on the album! Very catchy. My favorite part is the ending, which sounds like a cross between something off her last album (St. Vincent), and something off David Bowie’s Blackstar.

TRACK 3: “Masseduction” RATING: 4/10

This is really where it started going downhill.

Ugh. The guitar is kinda cool for a few brief seconds, but that’s pretty much all I like. Verging onto the horrendous, modern pop territory. It is just not St. Vincent. Nope. Nope. Nope.

TRACK 4: “Sugarboy” RATING: 3/10

BLEARGH. This is literally the worst song on the entire MASSEDUCTION album. I swear, if you took out all of the vocals, it would probably fit right in as the soundtrack to a MarioKart game or something and nobody would notice that it’s St. Vincent.

But I did notice that at one point, they snuck and sped up the baseline for “Los Ageless” in there. That was kinda funny.

TRACK 5: “Los Ageless” RATING: 8/10

Luuuuuurve! Now THIS is more like her old stuff! The chorus is a little annoying and modern-pop-y, but still a wonderful song. Plus, there’s a crazy video to go with it. I liked it even better than the one for “New York”.

PLEASE DON’T EAT THAT ANEMONE THING, ANNIE…

TRACK 6: “Happy Birthday, Johnny” RATING: 6.5/10

This is where this album starts to get really depressing.

I’d say that it’s “short and sweet”, but it’s more like “short and makes me want to cry a little”. It makes me want to give Annie Clark a little hug. *lip quivers slightly”

TRACK 7: “Savior” RATING: 4.5/10

Meh. It’s not as pop-y as “Masseduction” and “Sugarboy”, but still kind of fits that general pop mold. It just doesn’t really grab me, and eventually kind of melts into background noise. Tolerable, but not great.

TRACK 9: “Fear the Future” RATING: 7.5/10

YASS! Finally some relief after that bout of depression and pop! Like I said with “Hang On Me” earlier, it’s not her best, but it’s GREAT. The guitar is super cool. This sounds like something that would be really fun to see live.

TRACK 10: “Young Lover” RATING: 7/10

This song seems to be wearing an odd mask. The rhythm is happy and upbeat, but the lyrics are really sad. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful song, though. I’d probably give it a higher rating, but I hate the ending when St. Vincent’s voice goes up to a ridiculously high octave, bringing to mind the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when the Fat Lady is trying to sing opera and smashes the wine glass against the wall.

TRACK 11/12: “Dancing With a Ghost” and “Slow Disco” RATING: 4.5/10

“Dancing With A Ghost” is kind of cool, but doesn’t really have much substance. I’m not saying that because it’s instrumental, but there’s just not much to it. Now, “Slow Disco” is sad, but like “Savior”, it just doesn’t seem to grab me at all. Also, the probably-male-but-sort-of-androgynous voice at the end annoys the heck out of me.

TRACK 13: “Smoking Section” RATING: 7.5/10

OH.

MY.

GOD.

MY HEART.

Every time I hear this song, my heart feels as though somebody chucked it off the top of the Empire State Building, and then it splattered on the road. And then got run over by a car. No scratch that, a truck. Wait, no…a steam roller. Yeah. That’s more accurate. What I’m saying is that if you ever find me sobbing in the corner with headphones on, it’s because I’ve listened to this song too many times. It’s beautiful and cinematic, but MY GOD, THIS IS THE MOST DEPRESSING SONG I’VE HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If “Happy Birthday, Johnny” made me want to give Annie Clark a hug, this one makes me want to give her a near-strangulation level bear hug.

Alright, I’ve averaged out the ratings for this album (I added “New York”, an 8), and the final number turned out to be about a 6. Sigh…

I waited three years, THREE YEARS, and I must say, I’m rather underwhelmed. Not St. Vincent’s best work. I don’t mean to say that there’s nothing good about this album. It’s just disappointing. Sigh…