on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 3/5
Started: 20 June
Finished: 21 June
Summary: With Maura gone and the Grey Man's boss in town, Blue and the Raven Boys must work with the other residents of 300 Fox Way to hone their powers so that they can explore Cabeswater and find Glendower.
Thoughts: Some parts of this book were exciting, some visually stunning, some dry. The writing was consistently complex and lovely (I don't think I've ever pulled this much vocabulary from YA before) though. There were very few smiley character moments, but I loved Dittley to pieces, so there was that. The relationships build weirdly, and unimportant moments are told in detail and then important ones are just summarized, but some of the relationships are starting to build sweetly. Character's reactions to things are often utterly illogical, but I think that's on purpose? I will probably never revisit this series — its not good enough for that — but the writing is very pretty, so I intend to finish the series, if nothing else.
New Words:
Expatriate eks-pay-tree-it (n) a person who lives in a foreign country
Consternation (n) amusement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion
Visage (n) the face, countenance, or appearance of something
Ignominy (n) deep personal humiliation or disgrace
Ardent (adj) characterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity
Environs (adj) the districts around a city; surroundings; vicinity
Omniscience (n) quality or state of having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight
Rarified (adj) being less dense; of, relating to, or interesting a select group; very high
Credulous (adj) ready to believe especially on sight or uncertain evidence
Mitigate (v) to cause to become less harsh or hostile; to mollify; to make less severe or painful
Utilitarian (n) advocate of utilitarianism, the theory that the aim of an action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number
Liminal (adj) of, relating to, or situated at a sensory threshold, barely perceptible or capable of eliciting a response; between states
Epoch (n) an event or time marked by an even that begins a new period or development
Prognostication (n) an indication in advance; an act of foretelling from signs or symptoms
Salient (adj) moving by leaps or springs; standing out conspicuously
Litigation (n) the act, process, or practice of settling a dispute in a court of law
Patina (n) a usually green film formed naturally on copper and bronze by long exposure or artificially, often valued aesthetically for its color; surface appearance of something grown beautiful with age or use
Excise (v) to remove as or if by cutting out
Effigy (n) image or representation, especially of a person; a crude figure representing a hated person
Vacuous vah-kyoo-uhs (adj) emptied or lacking content
Mercurial (adj) characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood
Preclude (v) to make impossible by necessary consequence; rule out in advance
Minced (v) walked daintily
Repository (n) a place, room, or container where something is deposited or stored
Dormer (n) a window set vertically in a structure projecting through a sloping roof
Spuriously (adj) outwardly similar or corresponding to something without having it's genuine qualities
Vertiginous (adj) causing or tending to cause dizziness
Immutable (adj) not capable of or susceptible to change
Alimony (n) an allowance made to one spouse by the other for support pending or after legal separation or divorce
Excelsior (n) latin: higher
Transmuting (v) changing or altering in form, appearance,, or nature, especially to a higher form
Manky (adj) slang for something dirty or rotten
Disparate (adj) markedly distinct in quality or character; containing or made up of fundamental, different and often incongruous elements
Chitinous (adj) relating to a material that forms part of the hard outer integument especially of insects, arachnids, and crustaceans