I loved writing this post last year so I thought why not do it again? I always think it’s interesting to look back on my reads and see what my initial impressions were and then what the reality was.

Actual Rating: 4 stars

Plot: Mr. Shaitana is famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he is a man of whom everybody is a little afraid. So when he boasts to Hercule Poirot that he considers murder an art form, the detective has some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana’s “private collection.” Indeed, what begins as an absorbing evening of bridge is to turn into a more dangerous game altogether.

Now this book was super enjoyable the entire way through it. I was adamant it was going to be a 5 stars but in classic Christie fashion there is always that final twist in her tale. In The ABC Murders that twist ended up with me bumping that book up to 5 stars but this twist ended up dropping it down to 4. I just loved where it was originally going to much that added twist felt unnecessary.

Actual Rating: 4 stars

I think this ultimately came down to the fact that I knew how this book ended due to being spoiled on TikTok. I found this book to be my least favourite plot-wise anyway then add on an ending which was not as impactful to me as I was already aware of what happened and you get a four star book. Now this is not a bad rating whatsoever but I gave the last 2 books 5 stars so I was sad this one didn’t meet them.

Actual Rating: 3 stars

Plot: Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.

Now this was a big disappointment for me. I wanted to love this just as much as everyone else. It wasn’t a bad book but it was not as great as everyone had said it was. The pacing was way to fast, we never got to wholly experience the big plot moments as we were rushing to the next one. The romance was super lacklustre and underwhelming considering it was one of the big drawing points.

Actually Rating: 4 stars

Now all of the other books in this series were 5 stars but I was adamant, since this was the last one and Sanderson pulls no punches when it comes to ending his series, that I was going to be loving it and giving it all the stars. This book was by far one of the weaker ones he has written. Considering I have either given 4 or 5 stars it’s still a pretty high rating. But I found the ending to be very predictable and none of the plot twists shocked me. So it was a solid 4 stars.