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.

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

(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, 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...😭😭

 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...

Book Review: A Gathering of Shadows

Title: A Gathering of Shadows
Author: V. E. Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Shades of Magic (Book 2)

Reread Count: 3

This is, once again, one of the most perfect piles of magic and pirates and thieves and MAGIC that I have ever read. It's like Schwab took the best of the best and squished them together and called it the Shades of Magic series because I'm in LOVE. I didn't think it was possible to love a book this much on your third reread but I was wrooonnggg. And it's the second book of a series which is normally my least favorite but not this one because my heart.

Lilia has gotten more kick-ass, Rhy has gotten more wild, Kill has gotten more overprotective, and Alucard is like the best captain/boss/privateer (not pirate, mind you, privateer) ever because he's so sneaky and sly and just *insert flailing motions here*. Words cannot describe him. He's probably one of my favorite characters in this series, if not my favorite. And 10/10 would have picked the Night Spire too because those sails... ugh <3.

Probably one of my favorite things is that the Essen Tasch is like the Hunger Games but on steroids, with magic, and like a gazillion times better because magic. I also really liked the symbolism behind it, like on one hand it's this excuse to party (not that I'd party because... parties) and have a good time watching people whack each other with colored air and water and fire and jazz but on the other it's soooooo much a political power play/display thingamabob that it's just *boom* mind blown.

On an unrelated note, I've decided that the king and queen are inconsiderate little balls of [insert something you dislike here, I'm gonna go with broccoli because I hate broccoli] broccoli because if there is one lesson I've learned from books it's the harder you hold on to somebody the less likely it is that they will stay because boom deep life lessons from books but seriously you put all these rules into effect and are all icy and stuff and then you're like "why is he unhappy?" like there's a mirror go look in it. Seriously.

If you haven't read this book or this series or whatever just do it it's so totally worth it and it's just... *happy sigh*

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V. E. Schwab
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Shades of Magic (Book 1)
Reread Count: 4

So, as you can tell by the fact that I have read this book four times and have given it 5 stars each time even though I normally lower the ratings of books that I reread, I LOVE this series. And this book. But especially this book. My cousin, who introduced me to the Red Queen series and the Lunar Chronicles, is actually the one who got me into this series as well. Basically, she is the reason why I have no money any more (jk but seriously books are expensive). But this book is just perfection in 400 pages. It makes my heart happy 💙

This is basically kingdoms mixed with magic mixed with beached pirates mixed with thieves and it is WONDERFUL. Rhy and Kell together just have this awesome brother relationship that I wished I had with my sibling who I am currently trying to butter up because he who holds the Tolkien books must be convinced to let me borrow them. Or I can just casually sneak in and take them I'm sure he won't notice. Anyway, I just loved their banter and the fact that they know (almost) everything about each other and can tell all their moods and complement each other and I just love reading about their interactions...

And Lilia. This cut-throat thief who is actually really sensitive but tries to hide it with all her spikes she's like a pineapple... She's also so impossibly stubborn which speaks to me because when everyone tells you to go right you go left, obviously. Also, she has single-handedly validated my theory that large books can be used as weapons which is good because if someone breaks into my house all I have are large hardcovers to defend myself with... I mean I have a puppy but he will just lick the intruder to death so now I just have to decide if Harry Potter or Lady Midnight would be the best weapon...

I know Holland is supposed to be this evil dude that you are meant to hate and I did hate him the first two times I read this book but honestly I'm starting to like him more because if you think about it the poor guy is forced to serve these creepy evil twins and cut himself so they can drink his blood and who can blame him for being all angry and frustrated and all that jazz. I certainly would be if some pysco siblings bound me to them for all of eternity to serve as their evil minion.

I'm not going to make a likes/dislikes chart for this book because it is just so awesome and I can't handle it. Plus there isn't anything for me to hate. I mean I'm sure I could think of something if I focused hard enough because I'm a grumpy, crabby individual but I don't want to because I'm going to hold on to that happiness.

Read this. Just do yourself a favor and read it.

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Song Rising

Title: The Song Rising
Author: Samantha Shannon
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: The Bone Season (Book 3)

Spoilers for the Divergent Trilogy ahead!!


While this book was slightly more interesting than the previous installment, it didn't really necessarily speak to me or capture my attention or anything like that. I almost felt like the story got stuck in a rut, or like that movie with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt that I can't remember the name of... (Edge of Tomorrow. It's Edge of Tomorrow. Thanks Google.) You had this really interesting series of events that just kept getting repeated over and over again until, news flash, it wasn't interesting anymore. Plus, as I've mentioned in my past two reviews, my brain is a bag of mush right now so I kept getting confused, like hasn't this happened already...?

I feel like the second half was much more interesting than the first half, but both were pretty repetitive. In the first half it was all "Paige is Underqueen, now here are a million reasons why she might not be Underqueen for very long..." and that just didn't work for me. You can have a protagonist be interesting without constantly reinforcing how hard the journey ahead of her is going to be, her struggles, etc. I understood it the first couple times it was said! And then the second half of the book went all Mission Impossible on me, and if anyone has EVER talked to me about the Mission Impossible movies then they know that I have a grudge against those. A very big one. Also James Bond. Those guys are dead! You can't wack your head against the side of a building that hard and be totally okay afterwards. Sorry. And some of the stuff Paige did reminded me of that. Which made me really mad.

I'm going to be completely honest here--you really gotta know your orders for the last half of this book. And if you have, say, no idea as to what order is what then the whole suspense part of it is ruined because you are too lost to understand what is going on. And that's not kinda-sorta lost, it's majorly lost. And there's a chart and all in the back of the book but flipping back and forth all the time is just a pain. Major pain.

LIKES:
+ Yay for backstories! Nothing makes me happier than secondary character backstories, and you've got that here! Even though I had no clue as to who some of these people were (still iffy on who Tom was. I feel like I should know him and where he was from but again, brain = mush) I still got to learn their stories and that was cool
+ Jaxon backstory and story reveal and HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING?!? Paige is putting it all together and I'm like pshhh how did she not know that and then I'm sitting there like aiflfdujhsf well you didn't either.... (as you can see, did not see that coming. At all. Good job me.
+ Paige is finally using her gift more and although there was still a large amount of can'tdoitcan'tdoit that went on I feel like we actually got to see the dreamwalker, ya know, dreamwalk a decent amount.
+ The fact that she kinda pulled a Tris, but in a good way. You'll see.

DISLIKES:
- You know the outcome of her pulling a Tris, because there are 4 MORE BOOKS in the series.
- There seemed to be a lot of her acting like she was dying/dead but then she's not every time and just repetition...
- See rant about repetition above ^^
- I was really lost at certain points during this story. Like really lost, and I don't think I ever found my way again.

It wasn't awful, I just wasn't in love... I'm not sure if it was the repetition or slow build or what was going on, but it just didn't click for me, which was really disappointing. I still haven't decided if I'm reading the rest of the series when it comes out...

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Mime Order [Mild Spoilers]

Title: The Mime Order
Author: Samantha Shannon
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: The Bone Season (Book 2)

Warning: Mild-ish spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

I finished this yesterday but my brain is apparently a big bag of mush and I cannot retain anything so apologies in advance for yet another rambling and disorganized review. One day I will be completely on top of things, probably the same day that I can look at my TBR without getting short of breath.

I feel like this book was, in a way, pretty forgettable. I mean, I read The Bone Season 11 days ago and remember the events of that much better than I remember the events of this book, which should really tell you something. I feel like the last couple chapters of this book should have turned into the first couple chapters of the third book and then this book should have just...not existed...

Basically it picks up where the last book left off, and the first like 40% of the book is Paige deciding if she should go back to Jaxon or not. For some reason I imagine this as Paige pacing back and forth wearing a track in the ground but that's not what happened there was some other stuff thrown in there as well but it obviously wasn't interesting enough for me to remember... and then the last 60% is Warden-filled but also probably the most interesting part of the book. Not the Warden part. But the action part because betrayal, tension, mystery, all that jazz.

LIKES:
+ The last part of the book was awesome. Lots of action, mystery, etc. as well as some betrayal and subversive plots because why not chuck that in there too? I loved it, it reminded me of why I decided to continue reading the series even though the first one made me a puddle of uncertain mush. (I have issues when reading a series. As in, once I read the first one I feel obligated to read all of the others even if they were supremely terrible. Because you can't just abandon a series, who does that?! I have gotten better as my TBR has grown though, because no one has time to read an awful series with that monstrous pile staring straight at you...)
+ Excluding the first 40% of the book, I felt like the book moved the plot along quite nicely. There was actually a reason for everything/what was going on, I was drawn into the story, AND I chose to read it instead of studying for my tests because what is studying. All I know how to do is put it off and read books because... TBR lists...
+ I really liked how we got to know some of the secondary characters better, as well as their backstories. Because if there's one thing I hate (besides romance, love triangles, etc.) it's flat secondary characters

DISLIKES:
- The first 40% of the book because what was that even. I'm an indecisive person (MAJORLY indecisive) and even I was getting frustrated. PICK PAIGE, PICK.
- Warden because why does he have to get involved in EVERYTHING.
- Romance
-Some of the events at the end were confusing, and maybe it's just because my brain = mush but I got lost.
- Still upset with the slang. And the whole order-tree although there was a helpful guide in the back of this one probably because a lot of people didn't understand the slang in the first one!

I know a couple people who really liked this book, it just wasn't my cup of coffee (not tea because I hate tea). I feel like the first part of it was just way too slow for me to get interested, and the second part had to work overtime to make it up.

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Crimson Crown

Title: The Crimson Crown
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 4)

This book made me happy. Very, very happy. The Grey Wolf Throne was a disappointment due to pacing issues and the fact that the last 12 chapters of the book were just... eh. I was kinda nervous to pick this one up because it was 600 pages long and 37 chapters and I didn't want to have to drag myself through the last half of the book (or all of the book) just because I felt like I had to hear the series out. Luckily, this one felt like a flashback (in a good way) to The Demon King!

 I was super into the story, I liked Han's chapters a lot better than in the previous book, and still liked Raisa's chapters as well! I felt like there was the appropriate amount of action in the right amount of time, and there was no drag or super boring parts where I lost interest. All in all, I felt like this series really redeemed itself with the final installment!

LIKES:
+ Han's chapters were much more interesting than in the last book! They focused less on being super obsessed and in love and all that and more on the actual plot and interesting details and stuff like that. Although he did get kinda gushy again in the last 7 chapters or so but we will just pretend that never happened.
+ Betrayal. Twists. Turns. Suspense. I was on the edge of my seat! (I wasn't actually, because there wasn't enough space, but if I could have been I would have!)
+ There was a lot more action in this book than the last one, but the pacing was slower, so it was pretty much perfect.
+ There was still more character development, which made me super happy. I hate it when characters become stagnant halfway through the series, and then just get super flat.

DISLIKES:
- Micah Bayar. If I had to describe him throughout the entire series it would consist of shortest paragraph ever. He said the same couple things over and over again and I was hoping there was some super deep reason to his evilness but it never got fully explained?
- I am secretly kinda evil and was hoping that at the end a certain character would die because it would be somewhat out there but they survived... (I haven't figured out a way to hide spoilers on this yet so bear with me as I work this out)
- Poor Han just cannot catch a break. I'm just saying
- The series ended. Which made me sad. Also the last 3 chapters really confused me, although it may have just been the sleep deprivation.
- I really didn't like that some characters were really rigid and unwilling to change, but then all of a sudden were still good friends with Raisa? They would have these diabolical plans and then Raise was totally cool with them still hanging around.

Overall I really liked this book and I felt like it pulled the series back together! I am definitely going to read Chima's other books, and hopefully they will be just as good! I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in fantasy and looking for a good read! Just plow through the third book and you will be good to go.

See this review on Goodreads. (Spoilers are hidden but included in my Goodreads review)

Book Review: The Grey Wolf Throne

Title: The Grey Wolf Throne
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 3)

I'm not going to lie, this book seriously disappointed me. The pacing problems that irritated me at the end of The Exiled Queen were prevalent and kind of ruined the story for me. I felt like there was way too much action crammed into this tiny stretch of time, and all the twists and turns were way too much for me. I felt like if the book had progressed at half the speed it actually did that it would have been much better. My hope is that in the next book these pacing issues are resolved and that it slows down to a safer speed.

I also really didn't like the fact that, despite all the action, nothing seemed to really happen in the book. People debated one action for 20 chapters, then made a certain decision. Then they debated another issue for 17 chapters and just kind of left it there to be addressed in the next book. I didn't feel nearly as drawn into the story as I did with the previous two installments. All in all, it felt like the pacing was too fast with not a lot of actual change or content.

LIKES:
+ Despite all the issues I had with it, I still felt attracted to the story. I still cared about what happened to the characters, and I still want to finish the series. Most of the time when I have similar issues with books I want to abandon the series altogether, but not with this one.
+ I liked Raisa's chapters a lot more in this book! I felt like I got to know her better as a character and got to see her develop more, and, besides the last couple of chapters, there was more emphasis on her feelings towards things other than guys.
+ I just liked Raisa more in this book in general. A lot more. I actually like her as a character now, versus being unsure about it earlier in the series. She seemed stronger, and more sure of herself and the actions she wanted to take. I also really liked her actions in the very end of the book.
+ The epilogue. Because it redeemed at least part of the book because in those very short 4 pages the writing seemed more like the first book (which, so far, has been my favorite). I also hated the ending of the book (it was super anticlimactic) but then the epilogue came and everything was kind of okay again.

DISLIKES:
- Han's chapters. After the "big reveal" that Rebecca is Raisa (which was kind of spoiled in the blurb?) he puts his blinders on and wallows in his anger/other negative emotions and it made me not like him as much. Hence why I preferred Raisa's chapters to his.
- The pacing of the book. I already touched on this, but I felt like it was much too fast, but not a lot actually happened in the action-packed chapters.
- The last 12 chapters of the book. Because this is when Raisa being obsessed with all the boys and Han being (kinda?) obsessed with all the girls comes back in full force and I wilted a little inside because I'm really not a fan.
- The cliffhanger because WHY. (I don't know if this is a valid dislike or not because it was part of the epilogue that I loved but...)

So, despite being seriously disappointed, I'm going to continue with the series and really hope that it returns to the awesomeness level of the first and second books. Because I checked out books 1-3 of The Heir Chronicles with my precious limited checkouts from Hoopla so...

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Exiled Queen

Title: The Exiled Queen
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 2)

While I didn't like this as much as The Demon King, it was still a pretty good book and definitely an enjoyable read. I read 20 out of the 36 chapters before I finally convinced myself that I should do what I promised myself and actually study. I don't think studying the events of this book are going to help me pass my exams, but you never know. Maybe a question about the series will pop up on my science exam, it's possible (not).

This book basically takes up where The Demon King left off, but I think it really gives the reader a deeper insight into the characters of Han and Raisa. We get to learn about their experiences at this really awesome school that I want to go to (the classes sound so much more interesting than the curriculum at my school) and the struggles that both of them have balancing their past lives with their current ones. My favorite character is still Han, but I feel like I got to know Raisa a lot better in this book because her chapters were (somewhat) less boy-focused than in the previous installment and they focused more on her developing as a person and less as a princess (although because she is a princess I guess she is still developing as one but you get my drift).

I also really liked that we got to know some secondary characters better as well (Dancer, Amon, and a couple others) because it meant that their stories didn't get lost in the whole huge shuffle of things. I'm not going to lie, this series has a lot of action (at least so far) and it would be really easy to just throw away everyone but the main characters, but China does a great job of making sure to develop the secondary characters as well and even introduce some new ones that help Han and Raise develop as characters/people.

LIKES:
+ Less boy-craziness on Raisa's part and more of a focus on her getting to know the conditions in which other people live and how she can apply what she learns in school to ruling
+ The school, because if it was a real place I would totally go there because the classes sound super interesting or at least more fun than the ones that I am in right now...
+ Still dual narrators! I'm really glad that didn't go away and I hope it continues into the next book, especially because I love Han's POV more than Raisa's and if his went away...
+ Han is a wizard now. Who doesn't like wizards? Plus MAGIC.
+ Character development & more secondary characters! I feel like I got to know everybody's motives better and the story made way more sense
+ Action & plot-twists because those are (almost) always awesome

DISLIKES:
- The last couple chapters of the book. I felt like they were super rushed and it made me feel kinda panicked inside even though I had no reason to be. It was like the rest of the book was going at a reasonable 60 mph on a fun-curvy road and then decided to go 100 mph on this super confusing twisty windy road like what was with all the plot twists at the end? I feel like it would have been better if the book had kept that pace and maybe been a bit longer versus just speeding through the end.
- Love triangles. I'm just going to leave this one here.

So while I liked this book slightly less than the first one (I think mostly because of the ending and how it left me feeling rushed) I still loved it and am definitely going to continue the series! I'm so glad that I found another fantasy author to read and that the series is actually a decent length because nothing bothers me more than awesome series that end too soon. I'd definitely recommend this to basically anyone!

See this review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The Demon King

Title: The Demon King

Author: Cinda William Cima

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Series: Seven Realms (Book 1)

I became acquainted with this book after I recently discovered Hoopla (and by recently discovered I mean that it’s been around for ages but I was too lazy to figure out what it actually was) and was scrolling through the YA fantasy section at my kitchen table instead of, you know, studying or something productive. The cover was what attracted me, but the good ratings on Goodreads didn’t hurt either (and yes, I research my books before I read them…sometimes…). Let’s just say that Hoopla/Goodreads/cover judging didn’t let me down—I loved this book. It was fast enough that I wasn’t bored, yet didn’t rush through the plot like a lot of books that I’ve read recently. The story sucked me in, and instead of duel-reading it with Dreams of Gods and Monsters like I was planning, I wound up reading it all the way through by itself. Whoops. The only major complaint I had was the romance, since it felt like it didn’t fit into the story all the way and both Han and Raisa seemed to fall in love with every single person of the opposite sex that they met. Also, a lot of these romances didn’t seem super well-developed, and I was left trying to figure out when so-and-so came into the picture and how they fit. Then again, I am not a fan of romance by any means so maybe I’m just being picky.

LIKES:

+ Wizards and magic. You can rarely go wrong with wizards and magic (I would say never but I just *tried* to read a trilogy with wizards and magic and it was awful and I wound up not finishing… two books was enough)

+ Fast-paced plot but not so fast that it felt like I was on a runaway train

+ Duel narrators! I love it when a novel is narrated from more than one character’s perspective because I feel like it helps provide a more comprehensive view of the story. Like 360 degree YouTube videos but for books? Not sure exactly how to describe it but I like it.

+ The fact that one of the narrators is a guy. Most of the books I’ve been reading recently (excluding Strange the Dreamer) don’t have male narrators and all the male characters are love interests. It’s nice to have a male character with some actual character development even if, like I said, he falls in love with almost every girl he meets…

+ I liked how Raisa was more down-to-earth than a lot of stereotypical princesses. The development of her character after being exposed to people less fortunate than she was really interesting and I liked it. However…

DISLIKES:

- I didn’t like that Raisa was more down-to-earth than a lot of stereotypical princesses because I just read another book with the same deal going on and it reminded me too much of that. Maybe it was just bad timing for this book, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Also, it wasn’t really a gradual transformation.

- Han fell in love with almost every girl he met and Raisa fell in love with almost every guy she met. It was really confusing and frustrating, especially since there seemed to be no valid reasons for them loving the people that they did. I feel like there was a whole chapter on how these romances developed that I skipped. Also, I feel like the romance was forced, it didn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the story and was just awkward.

- The end of the book felt rushed to me. The rest of the book was at a nice pace but all of a sudden 20 different things happened at the very end of the book leaving me feeling confused and a little robbed. 

Overall I really liked this book! It was super interesting, full of action, and had MAGIC <3. I’m definitely going to continue reading this series and probably all of Cinda Williams Cima’s other books. Because by TBR isn’t big enough already.

See this review on Goodreads

Book Review: Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Title: Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Author: Laini Taylor

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Book 3)

This was my second time reading this series and I bumped basically every book up a star because I love it so much. The worlds that Laini Taylor are just so out there that I wish that I could see them in real life because they seem awesome. I love the characters (even if I’m probably pronouncing all of their names wrong in my head), the setting, the plot, just everything about this book. A lot of trilogies get worse as they go along but not this one! Dreams of Gods & Monsters was just as good as the previous two, if not better. One of my only major complaints is that my favorite character is missing but that’s just something that I had to deal with and attempt to get over.

LIKES:

+ The introduction of a new focus character. Eliza was, in my opinion, awesome. I really loved her backstory and how it all tied together in the end

+ Mik and Zuzana didn’t get tossed to the side as most best friend/side characters normally do as a series developed. I liked that we still got to see their characters develop and that they continued to be a part of the series versus gradually fading out.

+ More explanations/connections. This book explains A LOT of the events/people/worlds that were previously mentioned in the other two books and it helps provide context for a lot of the things that happened. You get to understand why a lot of the characters act the way that they do, and the events that led up to the big finale.

+ Betrayal and deception… need I say more?

+ Liraz gets some pretty major page time in this one, which is great because a) I’ve always liked Liraz and b) watching her character develop was awesome

+ Just a lot a lot of new character introductions/getting to know old characters better that made me really happy because everybody felt more 3D after this book versus just names and I-kinda-remember-yous

DISLIKES:

- I’m not a fan of romance so I wasn’t happy that the tensions between Akiva and Karou seemed to overshadow some important parts of the book. It almost felt like it was one of the more major conflicts versus one that should have been more minor.

- The end of the book (not the very end, but the part slightly before that) confused the heck out of me. I had to read it 2 or 3 times and I’m still pretty sure I missed something.

I (still) love this book, and I’d recommend it to pretty much anybody. It’s got action, beautiful worlds, awesome character development, and romance (if you like that kind of thing) but not so much that it makes me squeamish to read it.

See this review on Goodreads.