The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
May. 2nd, 2021 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI loved it.
+ There were so many characters in this book, so many people for Peter to bounce off and interact with, and so much happening, with many different threads that came together at the end, that together they made this a very enjoyable book to read. There was always someone or something new happening to keep your attention. Also I loved all the little callbacks/looks at past plots (the Quiet children, Peter's father's new teeth/comeback attempt, etc) which also helped to make the book full and interesting.
+ I loved getting to see so many returning characters.
- I loved Guleed as Peter's partner. They work really well together. Her coming out of no where at the end to take down Lesley hard was great. Also I loved that little exchange where Guleed sprays Lesley in the face and Lesley cries out "Sahra!".
- I enjoyed Tyburn's bigger role this book. I loved her final conversation with Peter where we get to see her sincere and open for the first time.
- It was great to see Reynolds again and I'm glad that she and Peter kept in touch. I liked how between books she got dragged into the American magical law-enforcement.
- I was pleased by how much Lesley there was. The Peter vs Lelsey face-offs were great. I love the fact that Peter being left unharmed was a part of her deal with Chorley.
- Stephanopoulos and Seawoll didn't have any real focus but they were around a lot in the book which I liked. My favourite scene was the meeting with Folsom and how obviously amused they both were by Peter's Peterness being directed at someone else.
- New to the book but I liked what we saw of Caroline a lot. Her interactions with Peter were great and I'd love to see more of them. She seemed really interested in his deeper look into how magic works and I like her desire to fly. I loved her saving him from Chorley. I hope we see her again. (Maybe she could join the Folly?)
+ I loved the introduction of Lady Helena and Caroline and the reveal that women used to be part of the magic tradition until sexism and patriarchy shut them out so they continued their own secret version, accumulating their own knowledge and understanding of magic while passing it down the generations.
This book was doing a lot to expand and open up the world of magic which I appreciated. Not just Lady Helena but we also got a small glimpse at the American law-enforcement situation, the existence of The Virgins/Virginia Gentleman's Company, and even MI5 starting to take an interest in the Folly. I liked how Helena and her magic ended up tying into the Faceless Men.
+ I love how the series is slowly moving towards the Folly changing and being brought into the 21st century and that Peter is at the forefront pushing it forward and creating the lines upon which the new Folly will be built. He's literally writing the book. I'm almost more excited to see how this plays out than anything else. I love all the connections Peter is building up.
+ I love Peter as this disaster and destruction locus that causes his colleagues much exasperation. That exchange where he tells Caroline that sometimes Nightingale rescues him but sometimes it's Beverly or Lady Ty or Molly and how he thinks there's a rota amused me a lot. Especially his "Don't be daft. There isn't really a rota - we're not that well organised." Heh, so true.
+ Still not interested in or shipping Peter/Beverly. They're fine as background but not something I'm very interested in long-term. That said while I get Ty's worry for her sister Peter isn't a normal human. It's very possible that he'll live and die like a normal human (though it seems just as likely he's die on the job, that list of everything he's been through over the course of these books!) but as Nightingale shows there's also a possibility that he could live a very long time.
+ I really love that 'the starling' is now firmly what everyone in the demi-monde calls Peter.
+ Peter and Nightingale fist bump was adorable. There was nothing specifically relationship focused but I enjoyed getting so much of them working together this book.
+ I was disappointed that we didn't get to see much of anything of the Nightingale vs Faceless fights. I love how badass Nightingale is and how nervous/impressed everyone is by him - the line about how if he went into The Chestnut Tree most the clientele would go out the back was great - but I'd like to see some of that power/dangerousness more often.
+ "As long as you stay focused"? Really, Nightingale, have you met Peter? That said, Nightingale telling Peter to go after Lesley literally minutes later instead of staying on track had me shaking my head.
+ I liked Nightingale choosing to preserve Molly's fun sneaking around behind their backs over letting Peter doing a security check on the homeless shelters she's been sending leftover food too.
+ There were so many characters in this book, so many people for Peter to bounce off and interact with, and so much happening, with many different threads that came together at the end, that together they made this a very enjoyable book to read. There was always someone or something new happening to keep your attention. Also I loved all the little callbacks/looks at past plots (the Quiet children, Peter's father's new teeth/comeback attempt, etc) which also helped to make the book full and interesting.
+ I loved getting to see so many returning characters.
- I loved Guleed as Peter's partner. They work really well together. Her coming out of no where at the end to take down Lesley hard was great. Also I loved that little exchange where Guleed sprays Lesley in the face and Lesley cries out "Sahra!".
- I enjoyed Tyburn's bigger role this book. I loved her final conversation with Peter where we get to see her sincere and open for the first time.
- It was great to see Reynolds again and I'm glad that she and Peter kept in touch. I liked how between books she got dragged into the American magical law-enforcement.
- I was pleased by how much Lesley there was. The Peter vs Lelsey face-offs were great. I love the fact that Peter being left unharmed was a part of her deal with Chorley.
- Stephanopoulos and Seawoll didn't have any real focus but they were around a lot in the book which I liked. My favourite scene was the meeting with Folsom and how obviously amused they both were by Peter's Peterness being directed at someone else.
- New to the book but I liked what we saw of Caroline a lot. Her interactions with Peter were great and I'd love to see more of them. She seemed really interested in his deeper look into how magic works and I like her desire to fly. I loved her saving him from Chorley. I hope we see her again. (Maybe she could join the Folly?)
+ I loved the introduction of Lady Helena and Caroline and the reveal that women used to be part of the magic tradition until sexism and patriarchy shut them out so they continued their own secret version, accumulating their own knowledge and understanding of magic while passing it down the generations.
This book was doing a lot to expand and open up the world of magic which I appreciated. Not just Lady Helena but we also got a small glimpse at the American law-enforcement situation, the existence of The Virgins/Virginia Gentleman's Company, and even MI5 starting to take an interest in the Folly. I liked how Helena and her magic ended up tying into the Faceless Men.
+ I love how the series is slowly moving towards the Folly changing and being brought into the 21st century and that Peter is at the forefront pushing it forward and creating the lines upon which the new Folly will be built. He's literally writing the book. I'm almost more excited to see how this plays out than anything else. I love all the connections Peter is building up.
+ I love Peter as this disaster and destruction locus that causes his colleagues much exasperation. That exchange where he tells Caroline that sometimes Nightingale rescues him but sometimes it's Beverly or Lady Ty or Molly and how he thinks there's a rota amused me a lot. Especially his "Don't be daft. There isn't really a rota - we're not that well organised." Heh, so true.
+ Still not interested in or shipping Peter/Beverly. They're fine as background but not something I'm very interested in long-term. That said while I get Ty's worry for her sister Peter isn't a normal human. It's very possible that he'll live and die like a normal human (though it seems just as likely he's die on the job, that list of everything he's been through over the course of these books!) but as Nightingale shows there's also a possibility that he could live a very long time.
+ I really love that 'the starling' is now firmly what everyone in the demi-monde calls Peter.
+ Peter and Nightingale fist bump was adorable. There was nothing specifically relationship focused but I enjoyed getting so much of them working together this book.
+ I was disappointed that we didn't get to see much of anything of the Nightingale vs Faceless fights. I love how badass Nightingale is and how nervous/impressed everyone is by him - the line about how if he went into The Chestnut Tree most the clientele would go out the back was great - but I'd like to see some of that power/dangerousness more often.
+ "As long as you stay focused"? Really, Nightingale, have you met Peter? That said, Nightingale telling Peter to go after Lesley literally minutes later instead of staying on track had me shaking my head.
+ I liked Nightingale choosing to preserve Molly's fun sneaking around behind their backs over letting Peter doing a security check on the homeless shelters she's been sending leftover food too.
