Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R.R. Martin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 2)
I am in love with this series. The first book was amazing, and the whole second-book pitfall was avoided! I generally do not have good luck with sequels because they always seem repetitive to me... but this seemed fresh, original, and it advanced the plot!
I'm finding it so hard to review this series, mostly because a) it's insanely complicated and b) I can't just point at one thing and go "I LOVED IT" like I love the book as a whole, and so trying to find the little itty-bitty details are hard.
But I'm going to try anyway.
SUPER-LOVES:
+ No one magically gets healed. One of my pet peeves is when someone is dying of an obviously fatal wound but somehow magically are like "I'm okay!" and then go off to win some gigantic battle when 30 seconds ago they were struggling to breathe. Like I get that it's fantasy but let's have some realistic elements please.
+ Also, no one is safe. NO ONE. Martin kills/harms/destroys anyone and anything that he pleases. Who cares if you've had 20 million chapters, when your time has come you're dead! I'm on the edge of my seat the whole time just because the character deaths aren't predictable like in most books. It doesn't matter if it's a main character or some random person who has two lines of text in the whole book and never talks, they could die at any moment. Suspense much?
+ The plot twists are A+. Like one second I think I have everything figured out and the next second someone is giving birth to a shadow on a boat. (Seriously though, what the heck even was this? Like... Just... Help.) You can never settle into this comfortable rut because Martin is continuously throwing bombshells at you, yet it's not so rushed that I have to leave the book and go calm down in a corner because the overload is real. There's like this super tiny line between too much and too little action, and this book walks it PERFECTLY.
+ Betrayal is a major thing, which I guess ties in with plot twists but man you can't trust ANYONE in this book. Like ever. Because if you do you'll wind up with no head. Literally.
Teeny-Tiny List of Dislikes (In tiny font because I'M SO CREATIVE)
- Why did Daenerys have like two chapters in this book and that was it. This was something that bothered me in the last book and instead of getting more chapters I got less! Also literally everybody just wants her for her dragons. Like all of her conversations with people go like:
Person: Hey I like you--
Daenerys: Awww thank you!
Person: --r dragons let's get married so that I can have them.
Seriously I mean I get it it's DRAGONS but still.
- The battle at the end went on WAAAAYYY too long for my tastes. Fire death boom ship ahhhh I GOT IT.
- The whole birthing-shadows scene I just don't understand...
This was still an awesome book, and I still stand by my statement that everyone should read this awesome series. And by everyone I mean everyone in appropriate audiences like not a 10 year-old or anything that would probably not end well.
See this review on Goodreads.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Book Review: A Game of Thrones
Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R.R. Martin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 1)
Why is there not an option for more than 5 stars? Like if I could I would rate this book 224 stars without hesitation (224 is one of my favorite numbers because 2+2 =4 and 2x2=4 and 4/2 = 2 and a bunch of other math calculations that make my slightly number/pattern-obsessed self happy).
So, I have major problems writing review for books that I love this much for a couple of reasons:
I am going to list a small list of like super-loves and a teeny-tiny list of no-likes and then pat myself on the back for being able to review a book that I love this much.
SUPER-LOVES:
+ One of my pet-peeves is authors refusing to kill their characters even when they are CLEARLY dead. Mission Impossible? Dude's dead. James Bond? Dead. You get my drift. So the fact that Martin can clearly see when a character is coming to the end of their time/arc/whatever and not only kills them off but kills them off in a manner that still fits the storyline? Happy me. I realize this sounds like I'm wishing people/characters dead and I'm not, I'm just tired of movie franchises/books/TV shows allowing characters that clearly should not have survived just magically pop up and be like "I'm good!" like no you just hit your head on a doorframe going like a million miles per hour I'm sorry but you are not okay. So basically, yay for realistic elements! Even though it's a fantasy!
+ The length. I love love love bigger books (but only if they are good because otherwise tears) and Martin managed to create like 800+ pages of pure awesomeness and I was obsessed. Still am obsessed. This allowed for plenty of character development, world-building, etc. It didn't feel rushed at all, yet it didn't drag, and when I reached the end I was desperate for more. And there are 4 (and, hopefully, eventually 6) more books to go through!
+ The characters. The characters that you should hate were just so despicable that you had no choice, and you loved the characters that you should love. The others you were left to decide for yourself, but they were just so well-written that by the end you had a firm opinion on them, there weren't any characters where I was just like "meh"
+ Daenerys is officially my new favorite character in all of ever (sorry Kell). I'm not exactly sure why I liked her so much, but it was just one of those things where I kept looking forward to her chapters and her story and I was like "Hurry up and shush Ned I wanna know what happens with Daenerys."
+ Dragons. If this needs an explanation I just... don't know what to do with you. Sorry.
Teeny-Tiny List of Dislikes:
- So. Many. Characters. So. Many. Names. (internal meltdown)
- Ned = Lord Stark. Didn't know that.
- Ned like dominated this book I wanted more Daenerys!!!
I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this book. If you can only read one book this year, read this one.
Note on the illustrated version versus regular: I did not pick this for the pictures, it was just available sooner than the normal version and I'm impatient. I mean the pictures are cool but they don't make or break the book.
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: George R.R. Martin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 1)
Why is there not an option for more than 5 stars? Like if I could I would rate this book 224 stars without hesitation (224 is one of my favorite numbers because 2+2 =4 and 2x2=4 and 4/2 = 2 and a bunch of other math calculations that make my slightly number/pattern-obsessed self happy).
So, I have major problems writing review for books that I love this much for a couple of reasons:
- My brain doesn't function normally because I am so obsessed
- I don't want to super-analyze it because I LOVE IT and I don't want to ruin it
I am going to list a small list of like super-loves and a teeny-tiny list of no-likes and then pat myself on the back for being able to review a book that I love this much.
SUPER-LOVES:
+ One of my pet-peeves is authors refusing to kill their characters even when they are CLEARLY dead. Mission Impossible? Dude's dead. James Bond? Dead. You get my drift. So the fact that Martin can clearly see when a character is coming to the end of their time/arc/whatever and not only kills them off but kills them off in a manner that still fits the storyline? Happy me. I realize this sounds like I'm wishing people/characters dead and I'm not, I'm just tired of movie franchises/books/TV shows allowing characters that clearly should not have survived just magically pop up and be like "I'm good!" like no you just hit your head on a doorframe going like a million miles per hour I'm sorry but you are not okay. So basically, yay for realistic elements! Even though it's a fantasy!
+ The length. I love love love bigger books (but only if they are good because otherwise tears) and Martin managed to create like 800+ pages of pure awesomeness and I was obsessed. Still am obsessed. This allowed for plenty of character development, world-building, etc. It didn't feel rushed at all, yet it didn't drag, and when I reached the end I was desperate for more. And there are 4 (and, hopefully, eventually 6) more books to go through!
+ The characters. The characters that you should hate were just so despicable that you had no choice, and you loved the characters that you should love. The others you were left to decide for yourself, but they were just so well-written that by the end you had a firm opinion on them, there weren't any characters where I was just like "meh"
+ Daenerys is officially my new favorite character in all of ever (sorry Kell). I'm not exactly sure why I liked her so much, but it was just one of those things where I kept looking forward to her chapters and her story and I was like "Hurry up and shush Ned I wanna know what happens with Daenerys."
+ Dragons. If this needs an explanation I just... don't know what to do with you. Sorry.
Teeny-Tiny List of Dislikes:
- So. Many. Characters. So. Many. Names. (internal meltdown)
- Ned = Lord Stark. Didn't know that.
- Ned like dominated this book I wanted more Daenerys!!!
I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this book. If you can only read one book this year, read this one.
Note on the illustrated version versus regular: I did not pick this for the pictures, it was just available sooner than the normal version and I'm impatient. I mean the pictures are cool but they don't make or break the book.
See this review on Goodreads.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
"How Do You Have Time to Read So Much?" (The Answer!)
So the number one question I always get when I talk to other people about reading is:
"How do you have time to read so much?"
(or one of 128473662 different variations of this question)
And the short answer that I normally give people is that I don't necessarily have all this time to read whenever I want and never go to work or to school or do homework or any of that. Although that really isn't a short answer. It's not easy (at least for me) to study for all these tests and write all these essays and still have time to read and take pictures and write reviews. So, I decided I would compile the long version of my answer to my most frequently received question.
How I Read So Much:
- I multitask. And by "multitask" I mean I walk into a lot of walls (hang on, I'll get there). I read when I'm eating, I read when I'm brushing my teeth, I read while I'm watching TV, and I read while walking up and down the stairs (don't do this, seriously. I've almost killed myself a couple times because a) I've missed a step or b) my puppy decided that HE wanted the step and then I have 60+ pounds of I'M-NOT-MOVING that I have to sneak around). Some people like to aimlessly stare at the ceiling while in the waiting room, I have my book. If there is ever a break, I'm reading. There are tons of minutes wasted throughout the day that could be spent reading, they are just so small that you don't think about them.
- I weave it into my schedule. I have a running to-do list that, like my TBR, will never be quite completed or conquered. I try to get in at least half a book to a book per day (depends on the size of the book) and so I make that a box that I need to check off. I HATE leaving boxes unchecked, and so that nasty little voice living inside my head that flips out when boxes are unchecked will remind me throughout the day that I need to keep reading.
- eBooks. For some reason bringing your phone to an information session is normal but books? Now people are looking at you funny. So I have a tendency to download eBooks from my TBR and keep them on hand just in case I need to go somewhere where it would be weird to have a book but perfectly acceptable to be on my phone. Plus they are much more convenient so that's another plus (but not nearly as fun to read...)
- I use it as a reward system. Wrote an essay? Have 5 chapters! Studied for that test? Another 5 chapters! By using reading as a reward for completing specific tasks, not only do I get a break in-between mind-numbing boredom and headaches, but I also get to read! The only downside to this tactic is that sometimes I'll get to a super good part and it will have been 8 chapters before everything dies down and at that point I gotta go to 10 chapters because multiples of 10 are important and oh look it's exciting again and this cycle just goes on and on forever...
- I've learned to be efficient(ish). I have a tendency to work on essays and do to homework at the weirdest times and in the weirdest places so that I can read when I get home. I try and set goals like "I will be done with this essay by 6 pm" so that I don't dawdle on certain tasks and get my stuff done so that I can read. Basically I make reading a priority like writing essays or studying for tests.
- I put stuff off. 😅 Let's not talk about this one it's embarrassing.
- I read fast. I've always been a naturally fast reader, but when I get super into something the pages just fly by. This really helps because it takes me a day to read the same book that would take someone else a week, and so I can squish more books in (I'm giving my parents credit for this one for starting me on books before kindergarten.)
- I can read anywhere. Except maybe the car because motion sickness is a thing. I don't have problems reading in large crowds or in noisy areas because I just tune everybody out... which is great when you want to get reading done but bad when you miss your bus stop or someone has to yell your name 5000 times to get your attention. Also, I miss a lot of conversations because people will have like full-on discussions with me but not get my attention first and then they'll be like "what do you think?" and that's the first clue I've gotten that they were talking to me.
I think a huge part of my reading so much is that I make it a priority. It's something that is important to me, something that I love, and I try and juggle it as best I can with everything else in life. Do I get to read every day, or as much as I would like to? No, but I do my best.
How do you guys fit reading into your schedules?
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Book Review: Our Dark Duet
Title: Our Dark Duet
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 2)
Reread Count: 2
I am a pile of mush. I loved (almost) everything about this book. The story, the irony, the Lord of the Flies parallels... I loved the fact that the humans were just as bad as the monsters, that it was super clear that everyone was dealing with the consequences of the previous book (they didn't just magically pop up and be a-okay after what happened), and Ilsa became like this super computer-whiz so that was icing on the cake!
So because I could go on and on about how awesome this book is, I'm gonna break it down and make 2 small lists of likes and dislikes...
LIKES:
+ "Even monsters have weak hearts"
+ Soro's character, and their insight. Each Sunai sees the world through a different lens, and for me Soro' was one of the more objective ones. I really liked the no-nonsence approach that they took to their job and to their expectations, but I also loved their character development.
+ This book really addresses the problem of black-and-white judgement (i.e. there are no grey areas) because there will always be some times where what the punishment should be according to the rules isn't necessarily the right course of action
+ I loved the Wardens. Computer hackers for the win!
+ The irony of a monster who won't face his own monsters
+ Allegro, because he reflects which side August is on
+ The whole story just pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading!
DISLIKES:
- The fragment chapters were not my thing. My brain just can't handle fragments and short sentences and this was driving it nuts.
- August does a lot of flinching. Like the phrase "August flinched" and all of its variations showed up a lot...
- Wasn't a huge fan of the Kate/Wardens relationship, it seemed a little stereotypical?
- The Alice/Sloan relationship was just...weird
- As someone who is a long-distance runner, the fact that Kate took months off of running and then ran like 7 miles and THEN was tired and decided to stop running... I mean adrenaline does wonders but I'm not sure it can do that...
- Also did Kate never learn the whole stranger-danger thing?!
- And my big, overarching question: How does Ilsa reap?! I can't see her doing it like Leo but idk I was confused.
I love this book. I love this series. If you haven't already--read it!
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 2)
Reread Count: 2
I am a pile of mush. I loved (almost) everything about this book. The story, the irony, the Lord of the Flies parallels... I loved the fact that the humans were just as bad as the monsters, that it was super clear that everyone was dealing with the consequences of the previous book (they didn't just magically pop up and be a-okay after what happened), and Ilsa became like this super computer-whiz so that was icing on the cake!
So because I could go on and on about how awesome this book is, I'm gonna break it down and make 2 small lists of likes and dislikes...
LIKES:
+ "Even monsters have weak hearts"
+ Soro's character, and their insight. Each Sunai sees the world through a different lens, and for me Soro' was one of the more objective ones. I really liked the no-nonsence approach that they took to their job and to their expectations, but I also loved their character development.
+ This book really addresses the problem of black-and-white judgement (i.e. there are no grey areas) because there will always be some times where what the punishment should be according to the rules isn't necessarily the right course of action
+ I loved the Wardens. Computer hackers for the win!
+ The irony of a monster who won't face his own monsters
+ Allegro, because he reflects which side August is on
+ The whole story just pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading!
DISLIKES:
- The fragment chapters were not my thing. My brain just can't handle fragments and short sentences and this was driving it nuts.
- August does a lot of flinching. Like the phrase "August flinched" and all of its variations showed up a lot...
- Wasn't a huge fan of the Kate/Wardens relationship, it seemed a little stereotypical?
- The Alice/Sloan relationship was just...weird
- As someone who is a long-distance runner, the fact that Kate took months off of running and then ran like 7 miles and THEN was tired and decided to stop running... I mean adrenaline does wonders but I'm not sure it can do that...
- Also did Kate never learn the whole stranger-danger thing?!
- And my big, overarching question: How does Ilsa reap?! I can't see her doing it like Leo but idk I was confused.
I love this book. I love this series. If you haven't already--read it!
See this review on Goodreads.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Things I Wish I Had Known Before Starting a Bookstagram (and a blog)
When I first decided to start a Bookstagram, I thought it would be super easy. Take pictures of pretty books, post, and *boom* hundreds of followers instantly and all that jazz. I've only had mine for a month or two, and now I've realized that it's actually a heck of a lot harder. And then I started a website, with the same idea in mind. Also got a swift reality check. So, without further ado, what I wish I had known before I decided to become a bookstagrammer and review books.
I'm sure that in a couple more months I will have even more to add to this list. Although my dreams of becoming some awesome professional photographer have definitely been shattered, I would say that I've (hopefully) improved! And one day I will have photos waiting just in case. One day. Just... not today.
For fellow bookstagrammers/bloggers out there, what were some things that you wish you had known when you started? Anything that you've learned that would be helpful for someone who is awful at taking photographs?
- Light matters. You can't just stick your book down in any random place, take a picture, and have it look like the best thing in all of ever. Outside? Might get washed out. Inside, but not by windows? Too dark. Artificial light? Now all my pictures are yellow. So you have to find the best spot for pictures (which, for me, happens to be my desk. Or my stairs, if the lighting on my desk is bad at that time), and then the best time. Because pictures taken on my desk at 5:00 at night look great, but at 8:00 pm they look awful. Or at 7 am because lighting.
- Take pictures ahead of time. Because when it decides to rain for 7 days straight you aren't getting any pretty lighting or outdoor shots, and there's only so many different ways you can rotate that book so it won't reflect the light straight back into the camera. So when it's 8 pm at night and you don't have the lighting to do anything, you will have backups and can post away!
- It will take a while to find a theme. I've seen all of these super pretty pictures with tons of color and flowers (a really good example is @paperfury because her pictures are AMAZING) and I so wanted to do that but I've figured out that, because I have like no props, I'm more of a minimalist-desky person (when the lighting is good. Stupid lighting.). You just have to figure out what works for you with what you have.
- Library books are a PAIN to photograph. Because I can't afford to buy a new book basically every other day I get A LOT of my books from the library. But those shiny jackets are so hard to take pictures of because GLARE! This has played a large role in the time that I chose to take photos because if the lighting is juuuussst right then you won't get glare.
- Taking notes helps A LOT for reviews. Instead of just trying to remember everything that you want to say and all of the things that you want to point out, write them down, cry because you can't understand your own writing, and start over! I'm kidding about this (kind of), it really does help, a lot! I just recently started taking notes and I've realized that it makes my life much easier, although a little sad because my notes are ugly.
- It gets hard when you get busy. Duh, right, but all of a sudden you are trying to read books and write reviews and post every day and sometimes my brain just wants to go *boom* because why are there only 24 hours in a day? Also sleep. I need sleep but I also need to write a review or read a book and priorities get screwed up.
- Interact with people. I didn't know this when I started and I am SO SORRY to all those nice people who reached out to me in the comments and I didn't respond. I had no clue what I was doing and my life was a little bit of a mess (just a little *laugh/sobs quietly*). If you interact with others it's a heck of a lot more fun and who knows, you may just find some people who like a random book just as much as you do!
- Don't type your blog post in Pages and then paste it into your blog because then the font gets all funky.
- Links don't work in Instagram posts 😕. I mean I still post links there because maybe it's helpful (?) but it took someone pointing it out to me for me to realize what was going on. Whoopsies.
I'm sure that in a couple more months I will have even more to add to this list. Although my dreams of becoming some awesome professional photographer have definitely been shattered, I would say that I've (hopefully) improved! And one day I will have photos waiting just in case. One day. Just... not today.
For fellow bookstagrammers/bloggers out there, what were some things that you wish you had known when you started? Anything that you've learned that would be helpful for someone who is awful at taking photographs?
Monday, September 11, 2017
Book Review: The Passenger
Title: The Passenger
Author: Lisa Lutz
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: N/A
...My head hurts. There was just so much going on in this book that I'm not even sure where to begin. Not to mention that I did not take notes when reading this about stuff I liked/didn't like (BIG mistake) and so now I'm not even sure what time zone I am in. And this, fellow readers, is why you do not decide to read an entire book between information sessions. Because the brain just cannot handle that type of commitment.
We are introduced to Tanya Dubois at the same time we are introduced to her now-dead husband, Frank. Who she definitely didn't kill, as she repeatedly assures us (I just met you, I don't trust you. We aren't there yet), but she's going to go on the run anyway because she doesn't want the police to look too closely into her background. What follows next is a whirlwind of action complete with murder, sneaking around, breaking-and-entering, and a possible bomb plot (?). Holy crud there was a TON crammed into this little book. I know on Goodreads it says 320 pages but I make the writing super tiny on my phone because my vision is awful anyway why not just ruin it completely, so it was only like 250 for me? And there was a ton going on.
If you've read any of my other reviews you probably know that I tend to like slower, longer books. I just need more processing time than the average reader, even though I read super fast IDK it's weird just ignore me. Anyway, this book was a little hard for me just because it was so fast, but that's kind of the point of the thriller-type genre so putting my obvious bias aside this book was really good! I was interested in the characters (and confused as heck because I can barely keep one name straight for one person much less like 20), I was super shocked by the ending (like what the heck that is so messed up) and Blue was obviously my favorite character in all of ever in this book. She was like some kick-ass guardian angel/vengeful angel/manipulator person and man I liked her more than I liked the main character!
As someone who is not super into the whole thriller thing because I like sleep and being able to have a brain process without inadvertently missing a million things in a book, this was a pretty good read! Obviously I read it really fast, and every time I had to put it down for the next session I was really sad because I wanted to know what happened! The only major complaint I had besides the whole confusion-factor was kinda the plot twist at the end, I have a hard time believing that [insert character here] was able to manipulate THAT many people in order to cover something like that up and then one day everyone just decides to be like "actually..." because let's be real that's stretching it jussstt a little bit. I did, however, really like the whole identity-shopping thing, not necessarily the act because stalking funeral homes is creepy but just because the process of doing it was so elaborate and so complex that it really made you realize what great lengths Tanya was going to in order to hide. Like that's dedication.
Side/late note: the emails were a pretty cool break from the action although it took me AGES to figure out who Jo was like man I REALLY should have taken notes.
In short: I would definitely recommend this. There's a ton of action, it's interesting, and the plot never stops twisting! The only reason it got 3 stars instead of 4 was just because of how confused I got but let's be honest here I get confused easily. Ask me what day and month it is randomly and unless it's a major holiday or a special day will I have any idea? Nooope.
Read this review on Goodreads.
Author: Lisa Lutz
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: N/A
...My head hurts. There was just so much going on in this book that I'm not even sure where to begin. Not to mention that I did not take notes when reading this about stuff I liked/didn't like (BIG mistake) and so now I'm not even sure what time zone I am in. And this, fellow readers, is why you do not decide to read an entire book between information sessions. Because the brain just cannot handle that type of commitment.
We are introduced to Tanya Dubois at the same time we are introduced to her now-dead husband, Frank. Who she definitely didn't kill, as she repeatedly assures us (I just met you, I don't trust you. We aren't there yet), but she's going to go on the run anyway because she doesn't want the police to look too closely into her background. What follows next is a whirlwind of action complete with murder, sneaking around, breaking-and-entering, and a possible bomb plot (?). Holy crud there was a TON crammed into this little book. I know on Goodreads it says 320 pages but I make the writing super tiny on my phone because my vision is awful anyway why not just ruin it completely, so it was only like 250 for me? And there was a ton going on.
If you've read any of my other reviews you probably know that I tend to like slower, longer books. I just need more processing time than the average reader, even though I read super fast IDK it's weird just ignore me. Anyway, this book was a little hard for me just because it was so fast, but that's kind of the point of the thriller-type genre so putting my obvious bias aside this book was really good! I was interested in the characters (and confused as heck because I can barely keep one name straight for one person much less like 20), I was super shocked by the ending (like what the heck that is so messed up) and Blue was obviously my favorite character in all of ever in this book. She was like some kick-ass guardian angel/vengeful angel/manipulator person and man I liked her more than I liked the main character!
As someone who is not super into the whole thriller thing because I like sleep and being able to have a brain process without inadvertently missing a million things in a book, this was a pretty good read! Obviously I read it really fast, and every time I had to put it down for the next session I was really sad because I wanted to know what happened! The only major complaint I had besides the whole confusion-factor was kinda the plot twist at the end, I have a hard time believing that [insert character here] was able to manipulate THAT many people in order to cover something like that up and then one day everyone just decides to be like "actually..." because let's be real that's stretching it jussstt a little bit. I did, however, really like the whole identity-shopping thing, not necessarily the act because stalking funeral homes is creepy but just because the process of doing it was so elaborate and so complex that it really made you realize what great lengths Tanya was going to in order to hide. Like that's dedication.
Side/late note: the emails were a pretty cool break from the action although it took me AGES to figure out who Jo was like man I REALLY should have taken notes.
In short: I would definitely recommend this. There's a ton of action, it's interesting, and the plot never stops twisting! The only reason it got 3 stars instead of 4 was just because of how confused I got but let's be honest here I get confused easily. Ask me what day and month it is randomly and unless it's a major holiday or a special day will I have any idea? Nooope.
Read this review on Goodreads.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Book Review: This Savage Song
Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 1)
Reread Count: 2
Hehehe I love Victoria Schwab and her books so much I can't even deal right now.
I am a very happy bookworm.
I am going to attempt to make an organized list of All the Reasons Why This Book Is Awesome:
Author: Victoria Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Monsters of Verity (Book 1)
Reread Count: 2
Hehehe I love Victoria Schwab and her books so much I can't even deal right now.
I am a very happy bookworm.
I am going to attempt to make an organized list of All the Reasons Why This Book Is Awesome:
- First off, monsters. Who are not like the boogyman monsters or those monsters that show up in every other YA fantasy novel, and not those awful things in The Twelve that made me scared of the dark for weeks, but almost like (going out on a limb here) physical representations of the monsters present within the human race? The bigger the act of violence, the more you lose (like when you create a Sunai, you give up your soul because the act was that bad). No idea if that is actually what Schwab meant for them to represent but that's what I thought about when I though monsters so... anyway I just really liked the depths of the monsters, and how, excluding the hive-mind Corsai, were super intelligent and knew exactly what they wanted and it was a nice change from the usual brainless and violent monster. Who most of the time happens to have no face do you know how creepy that is?
- I loved the dual storyline/narration. On one hand you have Kate, a human who is determined to make herself a monster so she can please her extremely violent and nasty father. It honestly made me sad to read some of her parts because the lengths that she goes to to try and impress her father are pretty extreme and I think that it's just sad that she has to prove to her father that she's "worthy" instead of being loved for who she is. And then you have August, a monster who desperately wants to be human. And he's trying to escape this stereotype that everyone has and that his nasty brother who I HATE is trying to enforce. Even with the whole "you always want to be what you can't" narrative yet the characters never stop trying...
- Ilsa deserves her own special bullet point. I just loved the air of mystery around her in the beginning and then the explanations that come at the end. She is, hands down, my favorite character, and she doesn't even appear that often. And the cat. The cat is awesome too.
- Plot twists and evil characters GALORE. I obviously knew what was going to happen already because I already read the book but I still loved the twists, most of them aren't predictable (there are one or two that are pretty obvious but idk if it was because I've read too many fantasy books or if its because I've read this book before or if they were just predictable in general but this was minority of the twists).
- The message behind this book. The monsters were only created because of the violent acts of humans, and honestly the humans in this book were also way worse than the monsters to be honest. Also, greed and money was a huge part of this book. Probably my favorite message though was that you can't control the lot you get in life, but you can choose how you react to it. I feel like these all apply to human nature and life/society in general so it was not only an entertaining read but an educational one as well.
Do I still like the Shades of Magic series better? Definitely, I feel like it is much more complex with a bit more development and more surprising plot twists. But hey, an enjoyable read is an enjoyable read!
See this review on Goodreads.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Review: Zeros
Title: Zeros
Author: Chuck Wendig
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: N/A
This was actually a pleasant surprise! After reading Wendig's other series I was kinda hesitant to pick this book up because what if I had to drag myself through it like I did Miriam Black... I'm not sure I would have made it! But this book, even though it was kinda confusing, was actually pretty interesting! I blew through it, I didn't even have that much time to read today but I managed to finish the entire thing!
But first, my favorite quote of the entire book:
"'You want media access?' Hollis says. 'Read a book. Books: the original TV shows.'"
(Yes Hollis, yes. I agree. Yes.)
LIKES:
+ Computers and hacking. I've always had a tiny secret dream of being some super hacker for the government or something (so a good-guy hacker I guess) but I stink at programming for one and also my eyesight is bad enough without staring at computers 24/7. Anyway it was really fun reading about all of the hacking and all of the skills and ooo I was a very happy bookworm. (This explanation makes no sense but I don't care)
+ Mystery and suspense and crazy stuff like that which I normally hate because it's totally predictable half of the time but this was actually awesome and I was surprised and it was cool!
+ I liked how every character had a fully-explained backstory that made it easier to understand why they all acted the way that they did, instead of it just being like they act like that because it's "just who they are" like reasons are wonderful things...
+ The main plot twist was predictable yet so unpredictable... Like I guessed what Typhon was but I also didn't guess how it was. If that makes any sense at all...
DISLIKES:
- Reagan was a really well-written character, but her actions were just despicable, especially at the beginning of the book. I just hated her so much which might have been the point but ugh I wanted to throw the book against a wall while reading some of her parts...
- I'm still confused how we got from the whole end scene (at the end of the book) to the scene at the beginning of the book I feel like I missed some crucial detail and so there was no pretty bow for me at the end just a bunch of loose strings and a confused me
- People don't ever seem to die in this book. Ever.
- The plot seemed to move a little too quickly at parts, which meant that I was left behind. Again.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I definitely don't regret reading it. As a warning, there are some pretty gory descriptions in this book, a decent amount of vulgar language, and some *stuff* that younger readers shouldn't be exposed to (also a reminder as to why I should actually read the reviews of books I pick up to read because here I am all shocked that this is in there and it's an answered question on Goodreads...) but for appropriate audiences it really is a fast-paced, action-packed read.
Just wish the ending had been a ton clearer...
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Chuck Wendig
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: N/A
This was actually a pleasant surprise! After reading Wendig's other series I was kinda hesitant to pick this book up because what if I had to drag myself through it like I did Miriam Black... I'm not sure I would have made it! But this book, even though it was kinda confusing, was actually pretty interesting! I blew through it, I didn't even have that much time to read today but I managed to finish the entire thing!
But first, my favorite quote of the entire book:
"'You want media access?' Hollis says. 'Read a book. Books: the original TV shows.'"
(Yes Hollis, yes. I agree. Yes.)
LIKES:
+ Computers and hacking. I've always had a tiny secret dream of being some super hacker for the government or something (so a good-guy hacker I guess) but I stink at programming for one and also my eyesight is bad enough without staring at computers 24/7. Anyway it was really fun reading about all of the hacking and all of the skills and ooo I was a very happy bookworm. (This explanation makes no sense but I don't care)
+ Mystery and suspense and crazy stuff like that which I normally hate because it's totally predictable half of the time but this was actually awesome and I was surprised and it was cool!
+ I liked how every character had a fully-explained backstory that made it easier to understand why they all acted the way that they did, instead of it just being like they act like that because it's "just who they are" like reasons are wonderful things...
+ The main plot twist was predictable yet so unpredictable... Like I guessed what Typhon was but I also didn't guess how it was. If that makes any sense at all...
DISLIKES:
- Reagan was a really well-written character, but her actions were just despicable, especially at the beginning of the book. I just hated her so much which might have been the point but ugh I wanted to throw the book against a wall while reading some of her parts...
- I'm still confused how we got from the whole end scene (at the end of the book) to the scene at the beginning of the book I feel like I missed some crucial detail and so there was no pretty bow for me at the end just a bunch of loose strings and a confused me
- People don't ever seem to die in this book. Ever.
- The plot seemed to move a little too quickly at parts, which meant that I was left behind. Again.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I definitely don't regret reading it. As a warning, there are some pretty gory descriptions in this book, a decent amount of vulgar language, and some *stuff* that younger readers shouldn't be exposed to (also a reminder as to why I should actually read the reviews of books I pick up to read because here I am all shocked that this is in there and it's an answered question on Goodreads...) but for appropriate audiences it really is a fast-paced, action-packed read.
Just wish the ending had been a ton clearer...
See this review on Goodreads.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Mini Review: The Kennedy Detail
Title: The Kennedy Detail
Authors: Gerald Blaine and Lisa McCubbin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
So the reason this is a "mini review" is because this blog is mainly focused on YA fantasy/fiction, and this book was more of a "me" read, if that makes any sense whatsoever. So this won't be a long review like it normally would, and I'm just going to do a little blurb with my thoughts on the book and its content.
I really enjoyed reading this book, as much as one can enjoy reading a book about the events leading up to someone's death. To read about it from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were responsible for protecting him and who obviously were very attached to him was just heartbreaking.
The first part of the book was extremely interesting and informative at least for me, since I've always admired the Secret Service agents. I knew their jobs were hard, but I didn't know that they were this hard. The amount of planning that goes into everything is insane.
The second part of the book, during/after the assassination, was really hard for me to read just because of how much agony everyone was in. Everyone was blaming themselves, people were throwing accusations left and right... It was sad, but I think it truly encompassed how everyone felt after the assassination.
I would definitely recommend reading this, it provides a unique perspective and is an informative and interesting read.
This review is on Goodreads.
Authors: Gerald Blaine and Lisa McCubbin
Rating: 5/5 Stars
So the reason this is a "mini review" is because this blog is mainly focused on YA fantasy/fiction, and this book was more of a "me" read, if that makes any sense whatsoever. So this won't be a long review like it normally would, and I'm just going to do a little blurb with my thoughts on the book and its content.
I really enjoyed reading this book, as much as one can enjoy reading a book about the events leading up to someone's death. To read about it from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were responsible for protecting him and who obviously were very attached to him was just heartbreaking.
The first part of the book was extremely interesting and informative at least for me, since I've always admired the Secret Service agents. I knew their jobs were hard, but I didn't know that they were this hard. The amount of planning that goes into everything is insane.
The second part of the book, during/after the assassination, was really hard for me to read just because of how much agony everyone was in. Everyone was blaming themselves, people were throwing accusations left and right... It was sad, but I think it truly encompassed how everyone felt after the assassination.
I would definitely recommend reading this, it provides a unique perspective and is an informative and interesting read.
This review is on Goodreads.
Book Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Title: The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Author: Rae Carson
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Fire and Thorns (Book 1)
* Means there is a spoiler at the bottom. Don't want to see the spoiler? Don't scroll to the very bottom.
Color me confused.
This book was 423 pages long. I understood maybe 210 pages? If I was lucky. There just seemed to be so many twists and turns and plot holes and, most of all, just this general sense of meh. It wasn't necessarily a bad book, but there was nothing about it that screamed "good book" either. It was just...okay. Which normally would earn it 3 stars, except for the ending which was, in my opinion, a little ridiculous. Like I read it a couple times and it still seemed kinda weird to me but I was scrolling through other reviews on Goodreads and maybe it's just me because so far I've only found one other person who has mentioned it... I just thought it was really strange and one of those things that people would mention but...
Anyway, Elisa is the bearer of the Godstone, which (little iffy on this because I didn't quite get how this worked but I read this after a run, I was a little tired so could have just been my mush brain) she received when a shaft of sunlight shined on her navel (?) and she is now responsible for a "great act of service" in which she might (and probably will, if past records are any indication) die. But first, she gets married to a king who promptly asks her to pretend that they are... not married? So that he can use it to his political advantage? And then gets kidnapped and that's about where I a) became officially confused and b) lost interest and wandered off to write essays. Me deciding to write essays instead of reading is a bad sign. I hate essays. Because once she gets kidnapped her personality kinda changes and not necessarily in a good way?
I think the hard part for me was that (and other people have mentioned this too) as soon as she started losing weight all of a sudden her Godstone had all these new properties, and she turned into this completely different person, which (I think) sent the opposite message that Carson might have been going for when she introduced Elisa as someone who loved to eat and was overweight. The message that seemed to come across was if you lose weight all of your problems would be magically solved, and I think it should have been more along the lines of acceptance and empowerment and stuff like that.*
LIKES:
+ I didn't necessarily have to drag myself through this book, I just didn't necessarily like it.
+ Elisa was actually a pretty strong character. There were some moments that seemed out-of-character for her where she seemed to complain more but other than that...
+ My favorite character was the prince, who showed up for like .5 seconds. I wish he had been in there more.
DISLIKES:
- The ending.**
- The message it sent about weight and losing weight.
- The title takes a second to figure out. Like it doesn't make any sense until you think about the whole thorn ritual that she goes through and then it kinda makes sense.
- There was way less magic than I thought. Like way less (as in almost none).
I'm not finishing the series... I just don't like it enough to make the time worth it.
See this review on Goodreads.
SPOILER SECTION:
* Also, the fact that her own husband all of a sudden didn't recognize her when she weighed less and acted more attracted to her really bothered me. His son recognized her right away, but he treated her like he'd never met her.
** I'm imagining this as like a pinwheel/fidgit-spinner thing on her bellybutton. She saved the day with a pinwheel on her bellybutton?! I'm... not convinced.
Author: Rae Carson
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Fire and Thorns (Book 1)
* Means there is a spoiler at the bottom. Don't want to see the spoiler? Don't scroll to the very bottom.
Color me confused.
This book was 423 pages long. I understood maybe 210 pages? If I was lucky. There just seemed to be so many twists and turns and plot holes and, most of all, just this general sense of meh. It wasn't necessarily a bad book, but there was nothing about it that screamed "good book" either. It was just...okay. Which normally would earn it 3 stars, except for the ending which was, in my opinion, a little ridiculous. Like I read it a couple times and it still seemed kinda weird to me but I was scrolling through other reviews on Goodreads and maybe it's just me because so far I've only found one other person who has mentioned it... I just thought it was really strange and one of those things that people would mention but...
Anyway, Elisa is the bearer of the Godstone, which (little iffy on this because I didn't quite get how this worked but I read this after a run, I was a little tired so could have just been my mush brain) she received when a shaft of sunlight shined on her navel (?) and she is now responsible for a "great act of service" in which she might (and probably will, if past records are any indication) die. But first, she gets married to a king who promptly asks her to pretend that they are... not married? So that he can use it to his political advantage? And then gets kidnapped and that's about where I a) became officially confused and b) lost interest and wandered off to write essays. Me deciding to write essays instead of reading is a bad sign. I hate essays. Because once she gets kidnapped her personality kinda changes and not necessarily in a good way?
I think the hard part for me was that (and other people have mentioned this too) as soon as she started losing weight all of a sudden her Godstone had all these new properties, and she turned into this completely different person, which (I think) sent the opposite message that Carson might have been going for when she introduced Elisa as someone who loved to eat and was overweight. The message that seemed to come across was if you lose weight all of your problems would be magically solved, and I think it should have been more along the lines of acceptance and empowerment and stuff like that.*
LIKES:
+ I didn't necessarily have to drag myself through this book, I just didn't necessarily like it.
+ Elisa was actually a pretty strong character. There were some moments that seemed out-of-character for her where she seemed to complain more but other than that...
+ My favorite character was the prince, who showed up for like .5 seconds. I wish he had been in there more.
DISLIKES:
- The ending.**
- The message it sent about weight and losing weight.
- The title takes a second to figure out. Like it doesn't make any sense until you think about the whole thorn ritual that she goes through and then it kinda makes sense.
- There was way less magic than I thought. Like way less (as in almost none).
I'm not finishing the series... I just don't like it enough to make the time worth it.
See this review on Goodreads.
SPOILER SECTION:
* Also, the fact that her own husband all of a sudden didn't recognize her when she weighed less and acted more attracted to her really bothered me. His son recognized her right away, but he treated her like he'd never met her.
** I'm imagining this as like a pinwheel/fidgit-spinner thing on her bellybutton. She saved the day with a pinwheel on her bellybutton?! I'm... not convinced.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Book Review: Here Lies Daniel Tate
Title: Here Lies Daniel Tate
Author: Cristin Terrill
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: N/A
Wow. My brain needs a couple seconds to catch up... it's already been like a half hour so maybe I need more than just a couple seconds. Maybe like a couple million seconds. *deep breath*
Here we go.
This book had so many twists and turns and surprises and man did I feel left behind. I feel like it would have been like riding a rollercoaster except I've never been on one because I am super afraid of heights and sharp drops and falling and yeah tangent whoops. Back on track. (Get it, rollercoaster? Track? Never mind.)
So we basically start off following this boy who is NOT Daniel Tate. And then IS Daniel Tate (for like 20 pages). And then he is NOT Daniel Tate again. And I WAS confused. But no honestly this was so confusing. I didn't figure out what was going on until like 100 pages into the book and that's 25% OF THE BOOK! But once I kinda-sorta figured out what was going on it was actually really good!
So "Daniel" basically gets wrapped up into this super big con where he winds up pretending to be "Daniel Tate," who mysteriously disappeared six years ago. At first he figures he will just use it as a helpful delay so that he can slip away, but everything moves much faster than he thought and he winds up being brought "home" to California.
Enter one of the most twisted, confusing, and secretive literary families that I have ever met. The Tate are just... wow. The only one I liked was Mia because she was the only one that made any sense. But basically everyone in this family has a secret to hide, and wow is it hard to figure everything out.
There were a ton of plot twists, some that were really predictable and some that blew my mind. But the ending? That was like an entirely different level.
LIKES:
+ The title (Here Lies Daniel Tate) can be connected in so many different ways throughout the book. Because "lies" can have so many different meanings, and I felt almost like it was a treasure hunt or whatever to connect "lies" to what was going on in the book and I felt so smart when I figured it out 😂
+ The ending was so unexpected yet I feel like it fit perfectly with the book. I almost feel like if it had ended any other way that it would have seemed "wrong" and would have been disappointing but for once I loved the ending! (I normally hate the endings of books but this was awesome)
+ All of the twists and turns were so confusing yet it kept me on the edge of my seat. (Although I will have to admit that this book was really not good for my health because I am a very anxious/stressed out person normally and this book just made it worse) I was constantly freaking out that "Daniel" would get discovered and trying to figure out how he would keep up this con and how the book would end...
+The story just really captured my attention, and once I started I couldn't stop because...
DISLIKES:
- THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS! Just little section break things so if you are like me and you need to stop at a chapter that is a multiple of either 5 or 10 (preferably 10) this book just wreaks havoc on your brain, which can't figure out where to stop and then you wind up forgetting to have dinner (true story) because how do you just stop in the middle of a random page?!
- There was one plot twist that was SUPER predictable, and it was supposed to be like the main plot twist but I called it on like page 50 or something so it wasn't a surprise. At all.
- The first 100 pages or so were really confusing it took a while for my brain to catch up.
This book was really good. The only reason that I'm not giving it 5 stars is because of the fact that it took me so long to figure out what was going on, and for the super predictable plot twist. But I would seriously recommend reading this book, it was awesome!
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Cristin Terrill
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: N/A
Wow. My brain needs a couple seconds to catch up... it's already been like a half hour so maybe I need more than just a couple seconds. Maybe like a couple million seconds. *deep breath*
Here we go.
This book had so many twists and turns and surprises and man did I feel left behind. I feel like it would have been like riding a rollercoaster except I've never been on one because I am super afraid of heights and sharp drops and falling and yeah tangent whoops. Back on track. (Get it, rollercoaster? Track? Never mind.)
So we basically start off following this boy who is NOT Daniel Tate. And then IS Daniel Tate (for like 20 pages). And then he is NOT Daniel Tate again. And I WAS confused. But no honestly this was so confusing. I didn't figure out what was going on until like 100 pages into the book and that's 25% OF THE BOOK! But once I kinda-sorta figured out what was going on it was actually really good!
So "Daniel" basically gets wrapped up into this super big con where he winds up pretending to be "Daniel Tate," who mysteriously disappeared six years ago. At first he figures he will just use it as a helpful delay so that he can slip away, but everything moves much faster than he thought and he winds up being brought "home" to California.
Enter one of the most twisted, confusing, and secretive literary families that I have ever met. The Tate are just... wow. The only one I liked was Mia because she was the only one that made any sense. But basically everyone in this family has a secret to hide, and wow is it hard to figure everything out.
There were a ton of plot twists, some that were really predictable and some that blew my mind. But the ending? That was like an entirely different level.
LIKES:
+ The title (Here Lies Daniel Tate) can be connected in so many different ways throughout the book. Because "lies" can have so many different meanings, and I felt almost like it was a treasure hunt or whatever to connect "lies" to what was going on in the book and I felt so smart when I figured it out 😂
+ The ending was so unexpected yet I feel like it fit perfectly with the book. I almost feel like if it had ended any other way that it would have seemed "wrong" and would have been disappointing but for once I loved the ending! (I normally hate the endings of books but this was awesome)
+ All of the twists and turns were so confusing yet it kept me on the edge of my seat. (Although I will have to admit that this book was really not good for my health because I am a very anxious/stressed out person normally and this book just made it worse) I was constantly freaking out that "Daniel" would get discovered and trying to figure out how he would keep up this con and how the book would end...
+The story just really captured my attention, and once I started I couldn't stop because...
DISLIKES:
- THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS! Just little section break things so if you are like me and you need to stop at a chapter that is a multiple of either 5 or 10 (preferably 10) this book just wreaks havoc on your brain, which can't figure out where to stop and then you wind up forgetting to have dinner (true story) because how do you just stop in the middle of a random page?!
- There was one plot twist that was SUPER predictable, and it was supposed to be like the main plot twist but I called it on like page 50 or something so it wasn't a surprise. At all.
- The first 100 pages or so were really confusing it took a while for my brain to catch up.
This book was really good. The only reason that I'm not giving it 5 stars is because of the fact that it took me so long to figure out what was going on, and for the super predictable plot twist. But I would seriously recommend reading this book, it was awesome!
See this review on Goodreads.
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Book Review: A Conjuring of Light
Title: A Conjuring of Light
Author: V. E. Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Shades of Magic (Book 3)
Reread Count: 2
So why did I still cry? (I actually did cry. Granted, it was the tearless, sob/heave kind because there were people near me and I didn't want to have the whole conversation like yes, I cry when I read books,yes I do it all the time no, it doesn't happen that often, etc. But I was this close to bawling and I didn't so now I am proud.)
Anyway.
I'm just not sure how much I can say about this book that I haven't already said about the other two books! I can only find one thing that I don't like about this series, and it's that it ended! I want to know what happens! And it's going to be YEARS before we get any answers in the form of the Threads of Power series... Why...ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I just... I love this book. There's so much action, so much other stuff that I can't talk about here because I can't figure out how to do spoilers on this website...
So I'm just going to link you to Goodreads here for the spoiler review, and if you want a spoiler-free review/list/random thing (for this book, I mean there are spoilers for the previous books but...) that will be down there ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
So yeah that was my pathetic blob of feelings that did not turn out to be a review at all. I'm sorry but at the same time I'm too busy being a blubbering mess that I just can't function...
Author: V. E. Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Shades of Magic (Book 3)
Reread Count: 2
(Look it's a picture! Go me.)
This was the second time I've read this book, which means I know every plot twist, every character action and reveal, everything.So why did I still cry? (I actually did cry. Granted, it was the tearless, sob/heave kind because there were people near me and I didn't want to have the whole conversation like yes, I cry when I read books,
Anyway.
I'm just not sure how much I can say about this book that I haven't already said about the other two books! I can only find one thing that I don't like about this series, and it's that it ended! I want to know what happens! And it's going to be YEARS before we get any answers in the form of the Threads of Power series... Why...ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I just... I love this book. There's so much action, so much other stuff that I can't talk about here because I can't figure out how to do spoilers on this website...
So I'm just going to link you to Goodreads here for the spoiler review, and if you want a spoiler-free review/list/random thing (for this book, I mean there are spoilers for the previous books but...) that will be down there ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
- All of the characters just got like 10000x better. Like take Lila's best quality and Kell's best quality and Rhy's best quality and multiply them by 10000 and that's how awesome it was
- It made me cry, and not because I was bored to tears but because I get to emotionally attached to characters and when they hurt, I hurt...
- Kell & Alucard because Alucard is (still) one of my favorite characters but his relationship with Kell was just perfection and it made me laugh
- The whole parent issues thing
- I still like Holland. I will probably never stop liking Holland I get that he's supposed to be evil and all that but all he wanted was his world to be all pretty again 🌅 can you really blame him for that?
- The ending killed me. I want mooooorrrreeeeee.
So yeah that was my pathetic blob of feelings that did not turn out to be a review at all. I'm sorry but at the same time I'm too busy being a blubbering mess that I just can't function...
Friday, September 1, 2017
August Book Roundup
It is officially September.
And I read less than half of the books on my August TBR.
I'm never going to finish.
My August TBR was about 30 books long, which would have been fine except I didn't take one major factor into account... mainly the fact that summer was ending and my free time along with it...
So, I thought I would do a little roundup of all the books I read in August
2 Stars:
1 Star:
And I read less than half of the books on my August TBR.
I'm never going to finish.
My August TBR was about 30 books long, which would have been fine except I didn't take one major factor into account... mainly the fact that summer was ending and my free time along with it...
So, I thought I would do a little roundup of all the books I read in August
~My August Books~
Total: 15 books New: 12 Rereads: 3
5 Stars:
- A Gathering of Shadows
- A Darker Shade of Magic
- The End of the Day
- This Monstrous Thing
- The Crimson Crown
- None
- None (thank goodness)
Biggest Surprise: The End of the Day. I never thought I would love it as much as I did, it's now one of my new favorite books.
Favorite New Series: The Seven Realms series. I randomly downloaded the eBook thinking it would be a decent way to pass the time and wound up loving it. Now I have 7+ more books to read by the same author.
Favorite Reread: Shades of Magic series, because they are some of the best books ever. I'm still rereading the third one but I'm counting it in this anyway.
Best Book News: 3 new books in the same world as the Shades of Magic series. And then a fourth, new book. What's not to like?
Now time to write out a September TBR that I will promptly ignore because new books are just too tempting.
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