(Modern) Classic Book Review: The Neverending Story

TITLE: The Neverending Story
AUTHOR: Michael Ende
PUBLISHED: 1979
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A boy finds a book that magically transports him to a magical land.
MY THOUGHTS: I have seen the Neverending Story movies a long time ago. I believe back in middle-school, actually. I enjoyed them well enough. That's kind of my reaction to the book: I enjoyed it well enough. It's not really life-changing or anything, though.
Probably if I had read this as a tween, it'd be a different story. If you have a tween into fantasy, give them this book. They will probably at least get a kick out of it. Me, I just can't give it more then a shrug. Part of it is that it's predictable. Nothing happens that isn't really unexpected. It follows typical fantasy quest rules. It's wish-fulfillment for boys, basically. It is also frankly...a little dated. Female characters don't really do anything, the one PoC character is a horrible stereotype. He...kind of does stuff, but is quickly pushed aside, once Bastian goes into the book. Which...I get it, it's a wish-fulfillment book. So naturally, everyone is going to be focused on making Bastian the best hero he can be. It was still kind of annoying though.
So...I get why it became a thing. It's a decent story and does the trick. There's some meta stuff in the beginning about reading that I really liked. For the age group it's aimed at, I recommend it. For older folks though...I suspect it might bore you. Especially if you're like me and have seen the movies, so you already know what happens.
WHO SHOULD READ: Tweens/Middle-school/early high school readers, fantasy fans

Book Review Catch Up Part 3: The Second Half of July 2018

Last of the review catch up posts, I promise. Here are all the things I read in the second half of July.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding Book 1 by Alexandra Bracken
Category: Middle-Grade
Published: September 2017
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Enjoyable read, as usual, from Alexandra Bracken. Turns out this is going to be made into a movie, so I read it just in time.
Rating: Four out of Five snarky demons

Another Country by James Baldwin
Category: Adult
Published: 1962
Genre: Contemporary
Read mostly because it was on the Great American Read list. I'm kind of slowly going through the ones I haven't read. Not all of them, because there are some I'm just not interested in, at all (Atlas Shrugged, for instance). But most of them I will be reading....at some point.

Robots VS Fairies anthology by various authors
Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Published: January 9th, 2018
Fun short story anthology that had stories featuring either robots or fairies.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five short stories that I wanted to be whole books

Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley by Emily Chang
Category: Non-Fiction
Genre: Social Commentary/Feminism
Published: February 6th, 2018
A deep look into the sexism of the tech industry. How bad it is, how we got there, why it persists, and how we can change the culture. The book is good and interesting...it's just draining, hearing about all these incidents and seeing all the indifference from some of the people in the industry.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five informative, but sad books

Kat Holloway Book 1: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 2nd, 2018
Okay historical mystery. Didn't really impress me, but didn't really fail me either. It's good for if you just want some Downton Abbey-esque feelings with a dash of mystery.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five nosy maids getting shit done

Veronica Speedwell Book 3: A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 16th, 2018
This series continues to be delightful. If you like slow burn romances, heroines who don't give a fuck about society's expectations, and snark, seriously pick this series up.
Rating: Four out of Five awesome snarky heroines

The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Category: Play
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 1953
I started to read this one, and it turns out I actually already have read it...way back in school. I just apparently forgot that. Oh well. If nothing else, it was a good refresher.

Comics read:
Captain America original 1940s series on Marvel Unlimited
Heavy Vinyl vol. 1

Book Review Catch Up Post Part 2: First Half of July 2018

Here are some of the things I read in the first half of July:

River of Teeth Book 1 by Sarah Gailey
Category: Adult
Genre: Alternate History
Published: May 2017
This is a short novella that takes an interesting what if idea and just runs with it. The result is a really fun and fast adventure story. Need to get my hands on the second book.
Rating: Four out of Five hippos (the reference will make sense when you read it)

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Category: YA
Genre: Verse/Contemporary
Published: March 6th, 2018
Contemporary verse novel about a girl finding her voice through slam poetry. I liked most of it, but the ending with the mother left a lot to be desired for me. If it wasn't for that, this would be five whole stars from me, because it's beautifully written.
Rating: Four out of Five let down endings

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Category: Adult
Genre: Contemporary, literary fiction
Published: January 9th, 2018
Everyone and their mother has been raving about this book and honestly...I don't get it. Half of it was good, the other half...not so much. Also I was really not into the way it stereotyped people a lot.
Rating: Three out of Five side-eyes

Caraval Book 2: Legendary by Stephanie Garber
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Published: May 29th, 2018
Oh Caraval, I have so many mixed feelings about this series. I gave the debut a four out of five, but after much reflection...I would probably rate it lower now. I enjoy this series, it's very readable and everything. There's nothing really bad in it...it's just not really good either. If you like it, I get it. I like it too. But...I also fully acknowledge that quality wise...it's not the best.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five generic, but enjoyable fantasy reads

American Panda by Gloria Chao
Category: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Published: February 6th, 2018
Cute and fluffy contemporary about a girl finding her way while dealing with controlling parents.
Rating: Four out of Five satisfying reads

Magic Misfits Book 1: The Magic Misfits by Neal Patrick Harris
Category: Middle-Grade
Genre: Contemporary/Adventure
Published: November 2017
Yes, NPH wrote a book. It was...just okay. The thing with middle-grade books is that there are two kinds: ones written with a general audience in mind...and one just written for tweens. This was written for tweens and they should be happy with it. I am not a tween, therefore, I was not really the target audience for the book.

Graphic novels read:
Generation X (2017) series (yes, the whole thing, I recently got a Marvel Unlimited subscription and have been putting it to use)
America Vol. 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez
Runaways (2017) Vol. 1

Book Review Catch-up Post Part 1: June 2018 Reads

Yeah...I'm woefully behind on reviews on here. I have been reading...I just haven't been terribly motivated to post reviews. So I'm going to do a catch up and try to get back into the swing of reviewing/posting stuff this month.

Here are the rest of the books that I read in June:

Rebel Mechanics Book 3: Rebels Rising by Shanna Swenson
Category: YA
Genre: Steampunk/Historical Fantasy
Published: April 2017
Rating: Three and a half out of Five steampunk outfits
Okay ending. Everything tied up a little too quickly and neatly for my taste. A bit of a let down after how great the second one was.
Rating for series: Three and a half out of Five

Tyranny of Petticoats Book 2: The Radical Element by various authors
Category: YA
Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Fantasy, Short Stories
Published: March 13th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five awesome female leads
If you've read Tyranny of Petticoats, this is just more of the same. Lots of good stories in this one.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Category:YA
Genre: Contemporary
Published: January 23rd, 2018
Rating: Three and a half out of Five
I like the overall message in this book, and there were some beautiful passages of writing in it. But the story overall...just fell a little flat for me for some reason.


The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Category: Adult/Classics
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 1905
This was...interesting. It was a bit slow for my taste, but overall I liked it. I find that Wharton's books tend to subvert expectations and I really like that aspect of her books.

Numair Chronicles Book 1: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Published: February 6th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five
I adore the Tortall books and pretty much everything Pierce writes. So it was a given, I was going to read and enjoy this. However, even as I enjoyed it...I think the series is unnecessary as most prequels are. It gives good insight to Numair's character...but that's honestly about all it does. But this was mostly just build-up, I think I suspect the next book will be where everything I actually care about happens. Such as Numair meeting Alanna and co.

The Collected Poems by Langston Hughes
Category: Classics
Genre: Poetry
Published: This edition, was published in 1995. It includes all of Hughes poems written over the the years, going as far back as the 1930s.
Still very new to poetry, so I can't comment on the quality. But I personally loved these. I also found some that were written over fifty years ago that are still relevant today. Part of me thinks it's because Hughes was just that good and part of me also thinks its because our society has not evolved as much as we like to claim.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Category: Classics
Genre: Non-Fiction/Philosophy/Politics
Published: 1513
If you're into history, you'll probably like this. As a lot of it is Machiavelli talking about politics and drawing from examples of history to back up his ideas. I just honestly found it dull.

Graphic Novels read:
Ms Marvel Vol.s 7 and 8
Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1
Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2

Book Review: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales

TITLE: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales
AUTHOR: Kiersten White
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
PUBLISHED: July 2017
GENRE: Fantasy, Fairy-tale mash-up
PREMISE: A retelling of various fairy-tales with some twists here and there...
MY REVIEW: I should probably give a bias warning: Kiersten White is a favorite author of mine. I've yet to read a book of hers I haven't enjoyed at least somewhat. Her stuff just kind of speaks to me, and this book is no exception. It is basically a fantasy parody with mash-ups of fairy tales with a slight horror bent. For instance, Goldilocks and the three bears. In this version, Goldilocks is a zombie hunter and the bears were actually zombies. Her breaking into the house was totally justified, guys!
There's Snow White, who turns out to be a mind-controlling monster (hence why the queen really put her into the coffin). Red Riding Hood turns out to be a vampire and so on. It basically just twists fairy-tales in unconventional ways and ties all of the tales together. It's all told with an hilarious narrator.
Because of the parody element, this probably won't appeal to everyone. But I personally loved it. If you know of tweens or anyone who enjoys middle-grade who is skeptical of the whole princess thing, they will probably like it too.
WHO SHOULD READ: fairy-tale mash-up fans, those who like fun twists on familiar stories
MY RATING: Four out of Five fun twisted fairy-tales

Book Review: To Kill a Kingdom

TITLE: To Kill a Kingdom
AUTHOR: Alexandra Christo
PUBLISHED: March 6th, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
PREMISE: A retelling of the little mermaid where the mermaid actually becomes human so she can kill the prince...
MY REVIEW: I admit it, I was a bit skeptical going into this. Mermaid books and me, really do not get along as a rule. But to my surprise...I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is a tad generic. Sorry, but retellings of the Little Mermaid happen all the time. So I can't give it higher then four stars. But it is still a very readable and entertaining book.
My favorite part about this book, hands down, were the side characters. Particularly the Prince's crew. They were an utter delight. They snarked at each other, supported each other, it was all great. It gave me a lot of Six of Crows chosen family vibes. That's my weakness. So that had a lot to do with my enjoyment of the book. I always say: if your plot is not going to be the most original out there, make sure your characters are awesome so people want to stay and read it. And the author succeeded in that quite a bit.
This was just a fun, but also kind of angsty, entertaining read. It did exactly what it set out to do, and I think the author did a fairly good job on it. The fantasy debuts this year are doing a much better job then last year, I must say. I still say it needs to do better on the diversity/LGBTQ plus rep though. I'm hoping the success of Children of Blood and Bone (which I still need to read) gets the ball rolling on the diversity front at least.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the Little Mermaid, dark fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five solid retellings

Book Review: The Belles

TITLE: The Belles
Book 1 in The Belles series
AUTHOR: Dhonielle Clayton
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: February 6th, 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where beauty is everything, one girl competes to be the favorite Belle and learns that there is more to her world then there seems...
MY REVIEW: I admit it...I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this. People kept comparing it to The Selection and I kind of loathe that series. But thankfully, this turned out to be ten times better then The Selection (and frankly, nothing like that series) and I wound up really enjoying it.
It is not really groundbreaking stuff. YA fantasy that does social commentary happen all the time. But this is very enjoyable and very readable. I love the world Clayton has built here. Like with The Cruel Prince, it's one of those worlds that has me itching to get out my drawing supplies, it's so vivid. The main character is enjoyable, there's plot intrigue, some good twists at the end, and I honestly kind of love the villain in this.
This was just a very nice, solid, YA fantasy. I think YA fantasy and I are starting to get our groove back. I've really enjoyed the last few I've read and that has been a nice change from the past year of just okay to boring fantasy books.
WHO SHOULD READ: Dhonielle Clayton fans, if you enjoyed all the descriptions of the Capital in Hunger Games (this place is like the Capital on steroids)
MY RATING: Four out of Five solid starts to a series

Book Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky

TITLE: Beneath the Sugar Sky
Book 3 in the Wayward Children series
AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire
PUBLISHED: January 9th, 2018
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: We return to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward to join a new group of people who go on a journey to a land made of candy...
MY REVIEW: I should probably just go ahead and put up a bias warning whenever I review these books. Because I honestly just love them. Sometimes there are series where you feel like the author peeked into your head and wrote your ideal series. This series is one of those for me.
As with the other books, this is fairly short. It's a novella, so it's just under two hundred pages. As with the other books, it's very whimsical, has a very fairy-tale like writing style, a diverse group of characters, and a nice and satisfying plot.
If you liked the other two books in the series, I would absolutely read this one as well. It looks like we will be getting at least two more books in the series and I can't wait.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Every Heart a Doorway, fairy tale fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five series I adore

Book Review: The Cruel Prince

TITLE: The Cruel Prince
Book 1 in the Folk of the Air Series
AUTHOR: Holly Black
PUBLISHED: January 2nd, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A human girl forced to live among the fae, who despise humans, tries her best to survive and thrive there.
MY REVIEW: If you are around any sort of bookish communities, chances are you've heard of this one. It's been pretty much everywhere. I'm a little surprised that people are surprised at how good this is. It's Holly Black. She's pretty much queen when it comes to the fae. But hey, at least people are discovering her now. FYI, if you like this check out her older books. They're all just as good.
Now I don't think this is as mind-blowing as the hype machine is making it out to be. There are pacing issues and this is actually pretty usual stuff for the fae. It's also pretty usual stuff for Holly Black. To all the people saying this is something new and unique...sorry, no. Not so much. That doesn't stop it from being good though. It's damn entertaining, the world-building is fantastic, the characters are memorable and interesting.
I do think this is very good. I just don't think it's as good as people have been saying. But that seems to be my lot when it comes to hyped books. About the only ones I've agreed with the hype machine on is The Hate U Give and Harry Potter. I still really enjoyed this one though. But that's not surprising, I've always enjoyed Holly Black's books to some extent.
WHO SHOULD READ: Holly Black fans, fans of faerie books
MY RATING: Four out of Five excellent starts to a series

Book Review: Sightwitch

TITLE: Sightwitch
Prequel book to the Witchlands series
AUTHOR: Susan Dennard
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: February 13th, 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A companion story to the Witchlands series that goes into the history of the Witchlands world...
MY REVIEW: This book was...not really what I was expecting to be honest. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. It just took me by surprise. I was expecting it to be written like the series. It does have the setting and the great focus on female characters, like the series does. But this is told through various journal entries and various other ways. It's very visual, so I don't recommend going for the audio version, if there is one out there.
As it is also a novella, it is shorter then the other books and goes by much quicker. If you don't read this one, you probably won't miss out on anything major. It just is mostly a nice deep dive into the magic system and gives some background info that might make your reading of the other books more interesting.
If you are a huge fan of the series, definitely pick this one up. At the very least, it helps with the waiting for the next book. Which is not coming out until 2019 now. ;pouts;
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the Witchlands series
MY RATING: Four out of Five nice, but not terribly necessary, prequels

Book Review: Long May She Reign

TITLE: Long May She Reign
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Thomas
PUBLISHED: February 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Mystery
PREMISE: A girl becomes a queen suddenly, when all the people who were in line for the throne before her are killed at once.
MY REVIEW: You ever wonder what Designated Survivor would be like if it were a fantasy instead of in a contemporary setting? Well, this book, basically answers that question. Because that honestly is all this book is: a gender-flipped Designated Survivor in a fantasy setting.
There's nothing wrong with it. It has a decent plot going, some nice character growth, and all the usual trappings of a YA fantasy. It's just really generic, so there's nothing really to set it apart from all the other several YA fantasy books out there.
If you like Designated Survivor, and that premise intrigues you then this is a good one to pick up. But if you're not interested in this...you probably won't miss out on anything by not reading it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Rhiannon Thomas fans, Designated Survivor fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five generic fantasies

Book Review: The Glass Spare

TITLE: The Glass Spare
Book 1 in the Glass Spare series
AUTHOR: Lauren DeStefano
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: October 2017
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl gets a dangerous gift and has to leave her life behind as she seeks to get rid of it...
MY REVIEW: I have very mixed feelings when it comes Lauren DeStefano. I think prose wise, she's great. She manages to write absorbing tales. She also has some very interesting ideas. She's just bad when it comes to delivering on that clever premise. She gets a good start but when you get to the ending it's kind of like "really? That's it?" For a prime example of this let down, see The Chemical Garden trilogy. I still roll my eyes at some of the flimsy reasoning that went on in that trilogy.
So with that in mind, I'm cautiously into this trilogy. It is a very nicely done world. As always with DeStefano, the premise is interesting. It's very absorbing and has all those things that on another author, would make me really look forward to the next books.
But this is DeStefano. So...I'm going to read the next books, but...I'm not going to expect much from them. I'm sorry, I've been burned too many times by this author for me to hail this serious as a major break through yet. She's very good at starting series and getting people hooked. When it comes to endings however....yeah. But hey, who knows, maybe this series will surprise me. I really hope it does. But in the meantime, I can't give this more then an average rating because I don't know what the series will come to be.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lauren DeStefano fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good starts, but we'll see how it goes books

Book Review: One Dark Throne

TITLE: One Dark Throne
Book 2 in the Three Dark Crowns series
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLISHED: September 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: The battle for the throne continues between Katherine, Arsinoe, and Mirabella....
MY REVIEW: Three Dark Crowns was one of my favorite reads from last year. Sequels can either make or break a series. I'm pleased to say, this sequel made it.
No, this series is not ground-breaking. Dark fantasy books in YA are a dime a dozen these days, thanks partly to Game of Thrones. But this series delivers on entertainment value. The plot keeps you guessing. The author is not afraid to have characters be flawed or unlikable. It's got all that good stuff about Game of Thrones, but without the rape and torture scenes. Sadly, there are no dragons. But there is a bear.
Normally, I am not a fan of series extending beyond what the author originally planned. But in this series case...I actually am all for it. Especially with where this second book left off. I can't wait for the third book. In this case, extending the series actually makes sense. It's when it doesn't make sense that I start to get frustrated.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Three Dark Crowns, Game of Thrones fans, dark fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five thrones

Book Review: The Ship of the Dead

TITLE: The Ship of the Dead
Book 3 in the Magnus Chase Trilogy
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
PUBLISHED: October 2017
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure
PREMISE: Magnus and his friends go on a quest to try and prevent Ragnorak from coming...
MY REVIEW: Do I even need to review these books anymore? Probably not. I'm sure you all know what I'm going to say and how I'm going to rate this.
In short: another fun one from Rick Riordan. It tied up the series nicely. I love the way it ended. There was some great character stuff here and there. It all comes with the humor I've come to expect from this series. I'm a little concerned about why Anna and Percy are sad. I am now really nervous for the last Apollo book, coming in May.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read Magnus Chase books 1 and 2, Rick Riordan fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Lokis
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Book Review: Everless

TITLE: Everless
Book 1 in the new Everless series
AUTHOR: Sara Holland
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: January 2nd, 2018
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where years of your life are used as currency, a girl goes to work in the kingdom of Everless, a place she and her father were banished from years ago...
MY REVIEW: My first book that came out in 2018! I'm sad to say...it was just okay. It pains me to say this was mediocre. I have been waiting for YA fantasy to get its butt in gear like YA contemporary has, but sadly, that has not been happening. There were some good YA fantasy books from last year, but a majority of them were from seasoned authors. Among the new authors, the only stand-out ones from last year for me were Caraval. Daughter of the Pirate King, and Daughter of the Burning City. Three books in all of those debuts we had last year is...not very promising. I was hoping this year would break that cycle.
Alas, this book does not give me much hope that YA fantasy will step it up this year. There is nothing terrible about it. It has decent writing. The world is somewhat interesting. There is plot, characters, twists, etc. My problem with this was the same problem I kept having with a lot of the YA fantasy from last year: it played it really safe (heck, even Caraval and Daughter of the Pirate King played it safe. I liked those books, but they weren't exactly ground-breaking). Everything in this book, I predicted from the first chapter. If you read a lot of fantasy, you can pretty much immediately tell how it's going to go. It's that paint-by-numbers. I could go on about how white and hetero-normative it also is, but I'll refrain. I even can't give much credit for the clever premise. The whole thing about using people's years of life as currency has been done before, in a movie.
I might read the second book. Because, I have had fantasy trilogies suddenly become amazing in the second book (for example: Rebel of the Sands or The Young Elites). I just am sad I didn't like this one. I really really wanted to like it. Again, there's nothing really BAD about it, which is why it will get an average rating from me. It's just...not mind-blowing and like other YA fantasy lately: played it really safe. Playing it safe is not good enough, authors. With the amount of books out there nowadays, you need to be better then just safe.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that don't mind predictable fantasy books
MY RATING: Three out of Five plot ideas I saw coming a mile away

Book Review: The Fate of the Tearling

TITLE: The Faste of the Tearling
Book 3 in the Queen of the Tearling Trilogy
AUTHOR: Erika Johansen
PUBLISHED: 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Learn what happens to Kelsea and the rest of the characters of the Tearling in this conclusion of the Queen of the Tearling trilogy...
MY REVIEW: I meant to read this one ages ago. It just sort of slipped my mind. Tearling has been one of those trilogies that built up so well. I liked the first one enough, but the second one was just phenomenal. This one...was good, I'm just not terribly sure how I feel about the ending.
I don't want to go into spoilers but my feelings are so wrapped up in the ending that avoiding spoilers is kind of hard...let's just say...there are time travel shenanigans involved and the ending was definitely not at all what I expected it to be. I don't think it's a bad ending...but I'm also not fond of it either.
I don't know guys. I seem to have a very up and down sort of relationship with this trilogy. There are things I love about it (Kelsea for instance. Kelsea is awesome). There are things I can do without. The ending was one of those things I could do without. According to the author though, chances are good we're getting more Tearling books in the future. So...I'm not even sure if this is the ending of it.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that have read the first two books, Game of Thrones fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five meh endings (or IS IT an ending????)
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Quotable lines from the book:

"These people are so damn proud of their hatred! Hatred is easy, and lazy to boot. It's love that demands the effort, love that extracts a price from each of us. Love costs; this its value."

Gif summary of feelings

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

TITLE: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Book 1 in the Thorns and Roses series
AUTHOR: Sarah J. Maas
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Faeries, Retellings
PREMISE: In a loosely inspired retelling of Beauty and the Beast, a girl agrees to go to a kingdom of faeries where she is the only human after killing a fae...
MY REVIEW: I know what you all are thinking: you haven't read this yet????!!!! No. I didn't until now. See, I had read Throne of Glass way back when it first came out. I...was frankly not very impressed. Other people did not feel the same and it's a big hit. What can you do? So I never really had any desire to read this series. But....I saw this in the library and...I don't know I just felt a sudden desire to read it. So I did.
I have...mixed feelings. Much like I did with Throne of Glass. On one hand, I do definitely see improvement from Throne of Glass. I like when authors improve. It is actually a different series so she's trying new stuff, which is another thing I like. On the other hand....like Throne of Glass...I find it a bit generic. Beauty and the Beast fantasy retellings have been done. Lots of times. I can name you several of my favorites. This didn't really do anything unique or original with the fae. I didn't particularly see anything mind-blowing to be honest. The characters were okay, the romance....didn't really blow me away to be honest, and the plot was average.
I don't think it's bad. I'm just...puzzled about the attachment people seem to have with this series, because to me it was the same old, same old. But....I also thought that about Throne of Glass so who knows? The hype machine is weird about what it attaches itself too. I did kind of at least like this though. I'm not in love with it, like others are...but unlike Throne of Glass, there's a good chance I'll continue on with this series.
WHO SHOULD READ: Throne of Glass fans, faerie fans, retelling fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five sexy fae

Gif summary of feelings:

Book Review: The Speaker

TITLE: The Speaker
Book 1 in the Sea of Ink and Gold series
AUTHOR: Traci Chee
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: November 2017
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Sefia and Archer continue their journey with a prophecy hanging over their heads....
MY REVIEW: Sequels have a way of making or breaking a series/trilogy. If the sequel is a letdown or just not good....I personally have the tendency to lose interest. Perfect example: Maze Runner. That series started out so well...then books 2 and 3 happened. If your sequel is really good, it might actually renew my interest in your series. For example: Traitor to the Throne from last year. I was not very impressed with Rebel in the Sands when I read it. I almost wasn't going to read the sequel, but I gave it a chance and holy hell did that series improve. I now can't wait for book 3 next year.
I am happy to say the Speaker is more along the lines of Traitor to the Throne. It improved upon the first book. Now, unlike Rebel in the Sands, I did like The Reader a lot. But...it was also a little generic fantasy wise. But this book....damn, this book improved things. It gave backstory to characters. It developed its main characters. It had a fast-moving plot, that did not feel like the author was just wasting our time, before the finale.
This was an excellent sequel. I'm forever sad that this series didn't get more love among Booktube or book bloggers. Alas, this is not the first time I've loved a series no one else cares about. It won't be the last time either.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of The Reader, dark fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five magic books

gif summary of my feelings:

Book Review: Before She Ignites

TITLE: Before She Ignites
Book 1 in the Fallen Isles Trilogy
AUTHOR: Jodi Meadows
PUBLISHED: September 2017
CATEGORY: Young Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl discovers a dark secret about her world and is thrown in prison before she can reveal the secret...
MY REVIEW: This was a rather interesting read. It is definitely different from Meadows other reads, that's for sure. There is no love triangle. In fact, there's very little romance at all. There does seem to be the start of something with one guy, but she does not at all say the word love, nor is there any kissing. I find this so refreshing. YA authors, more of this please! Slow build romances are your friend, guys.
World building wise....it's okay. Most of the book is spent in the prison, so you don't see all of the world. For those worried about the white author writing a black character aspect...the character's race is pretty much a non-issue. The author points out when characters are not white...but she does not once use race as a plot issue. She's more interested in country divides and dragons. Which is probably just as well.
The way this was written was the most interesting aspect of it for me. She does a bit of a LOST thing where it switches between past and present and it's pretty effective for building suspense. For the most part, I liked this book. It was a bit slow, especially in the middle, but the ending was a good pay-off and makes me look forward to the next one. I say it was a job well done.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jodi Meadows fans, fantasy fans, dragon fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five dragons

Book Review: The Book of Dust

TITLE: The Book of Dust
La Belle Sauvage Book 1
AUTHOR: Philip Pullman
PUBLISHED: October 19th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a prequel to His Dark Materials, Pullman takes us back to when Lyra was first born to show us how her world came to be...
MY REVIEW: So prequels can be a bit hit or miss with me. I don't mind them, if it actually turns out to be necessary to have them. If it's not necessary...just don't do it, okay? The Book of Dust....I don't think it was terribly necessary....but I also don't mind it.
This book is mostly helped by the fact that I just love Pullman's His Dark Materials world. Yeah, the books are slow. He's not subtle in his messaging. I don't care, they suit my taste. Whether or not you love this...will honestly just depend on what your feelings about His Dark Materials were. If you loved it, I guarantee you'll like this. If you were ho hum or just plain hated it...you probably weren't interested in this book to begin with.
I liked it, but I confess the one I'm really waiting for is the sequel. The sequel is going to take place ten years after the ending of the trilogy and give us adult Lyra. THAT'S what I want in my heart of hearts. I liked Malcolm, I did. But give me more Lyra please, author. She's a large part of the reason I adored His Dark Materials. She's what I'm here for.
WHO SHOULD READ: His Dark Materials fans, those who don't mind slow fantasy books
MY RATING: Four out of Five fantasy worlds I love