Title: Captive Rebel
Author: Erin McDermott
Rating: 3/5
Series: The Allegiance (Book 1)
Captive Rebel is a mix between dystopian and action with some romance sprinkled in, and it was pretty good! The main character, Marylyn O'Conner, starts of with this this go-with-the-flow personality that gets her into a few spots of trouble, but turns into this tough, strong character after she is captured. I love protagonists with spines (it's a pet peeve of mine when they don't), and every time she reminded her captors that she had a name I did an internal backflip. I also loved the fact that she was honest and didn't let people try and sugar-coat the situation, since it made me like her a lot more.
Honestly, my biggest complaint is that I wanted more. I would have loved to hear the backstory behind the division between the rebels and the Allegiant, what the wars were, and where the United States went. What was Ian's deal, how did they pick Charles, Ian, and Marylyn for the mission, I just have questions. One of the things that I look for in a book is for it to make me want more answers, to know more, and Captive Rebel definitely achieved that.
LIKES:
+ Marylyn's transformation, because she went from "whatever you say" to "I'll do it myself." I really liked how she figured out that some things she just had to take into her own hands, and I definitely liked captured Marylyn better than pre-capture Marylyn.
+ Marylyn's spine, as explained above
+ The Greek mythology ties, because I was interested enough that I had to go Google some stuff, and that means I have to find some books on Greek mythology and start reading
+ Marylyn's constant worrying actually made it easier to relate to her, because she was worrying about everything and I was worrying about everything, and we were able to worry together!
+ The character of Fanny was really well written. 3 words into her dialogue and I already hated her, which I'm pretty sure was the intent. Charles was really well written as well, I felt like his actions and the writing really fit with his character.
DISLIKES:
- I really would have liked to see more backstory, and some explanations regarding the wars, temples, Ian, the mission, etc. That was my main complaint, I just felt like I needed more of the story.
- There were a couple grammatical errors (I say this as my computer spell-checks grammatical for me because I can't spell, nor can I use commas) that didn't necessarily detract from the story but interrupted my flow a little. Also, as a fan of longer (and, as others describe them, flowery) sentences, I would have liked to see more of those.
- I felt like the pacing was a little too fast, but I think this relates back to the wanting-more-backstory thing. That would help slow the pacing, draw the story out, and make it not feel as rushed.
- Overprotective Ariston because I have issues with overprotective romance but that's probably just me.
I can honestly say that this was one of the few romance-type novels that I actually approved of the amount of romance included. Normally the romance overpowers the rest of the book, but this was actually more action and then a few romance scenes sprinkled in, but nothing that made me want to skip 5 pages ahead like I've had to do in some books. I liked this book, but I feel like I could have liked it more had it been more fleshed out.
Disclaimer: I was contacted by the author and asked to read and review this book. This has in no way impacted or altered my review, which is solely based on my feelings toward this book and its content. I did not receive any compensation (monetary or material) for this review and procured a copy of the book on my own.
See this review on Goodreads.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
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.
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.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Book Review: Blackbirds
Title: Blackbirds
Author: Chuck Wendig
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Miriam Black (Book 1)
I think I'm just on a disappointing-book reading spree right now. I saw this book on the "new arrivals" shelf that I have begun stalking at my library, and I thought that it looked like an awesome series. Protagonist with the ability to tell when people are going to die? It sounded like a nice action/thriller, and then I read it and it... wasn't.
First things first, Miriam was one of the most irritating protagonists that I have read in a long time. I understand the angle that Wendig was going for, but it just seemed extremely overdone, like he was intentionally trying to make her the most irritating, irrational, annoying character that he possibly could. And I'm not sure that he meant her character to be like that. Also, her entire character can be summed up in like 5 words, which is really frustrating. When I talk about a character I want to be able to go into an in-depth analysis of their personality and not just be like "yeah she smokes and cusses and..." because I've just summarized 40% of her personality.
Also this book is just really gross. Like really gross. I don't normally have a problem with descriptions that other people cannot handle but this was way over the top. Just reading it made me feel ill. There were brains getting blown everywhere, people getting shoved down garbage disposals, knives going through eyes, it was just disgusting. And there were other details about more... romantic... things that were just yuck as well. Seriously, I don't want to read about that.
And linear plot that makes sense? Nonexistent. It was like jumping around on a trampoline half the time, I couldn't tell what the heck was going on. One second we are in X location, the next we are some random place that I don't know. And names. I am so bad with names but Wendig kept throwing names out there that I was supposed to know but didn't.
LIKES:
+ The snippets where we get to find out how people will die were actually pretty interesting and, in my opinion, some of the better-written parts of the book. They were still pretty gruesome and over-the-top, but at least they weren't pogo-sticking all over the place.
+ There were certainly plenty of plot twists, and I was surprised by a ton of the twists and turns. In this way, the confusing plot actually helped with the suspense because I was so lost that I couldn't predict anything.
DISLIKES:
- Miriam, because of all the reasons listed above
- Confusing plot that made no sense at all
- Miriam's relationships with other people, because she seemed to gravitate towards the people who would treat her horribly. And then when there was someone who would actually treat her in a decent manner she realized what a bad influence she would be, ran away, and changed nothing about her life.
- Gross details. Over-the-top gross details.
- Ending that made zero sense considering all the stuff that Miriam spews during the book about fate.
I just can't finish this series. I mean I could, but I would just be dragging myself through 3 more books of yuck, and I've decided by TBR is too big for that. I will, however, be trying Wendig's other book Zer0s, because maybe it's better?
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Chuck Wendig
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Miriam Black (Book 1)
I think I'm just on a disappointing-book reading spree right now. I saw this book on the "new arrivals" shelf that I have begun stalking at my library, and I thought that it looked like an awesome series. Protagonist with the ability to tell when people are going to die? It sounded like a nice action/thriller, and then I read it and it... wasn't.
First things first, Miriam was one of the most irritating protagonists that I have read in a long time. I understand the angle that Wendig was going for, but it just seemed extremely overdone, like he was intentionally trying to make her the most irritating, irrational, annoying character that he possibly could. And I'm not sure that he meant her character to be like that. Also, her entire character can be summed up in like 5 words, which is really frustrating. When I talk about a character I want to be able to go into an in-depth analysis of their personality and not just be like "yeah she smokes and cusses and..." because I've just summarized 40% of her personality.
Also this book is just really gross. Like really gross. I don't normally have a problem with descriptions that other people cannot handle but this was way over the top. Just reading it made me feel ill. There were brains getting blown everywhere, people getting shoved down garbage disposals, knives going through eyes, it was just disgusting. And there were other details about more... romantic... things that were just yuck as well. Seriously, I don't want to read about that.
And linear plot that makes sense? Nonexistent. It was like jumping around on a trampoline half the time, I couldn't tell what the heck was going on. One second we are in X location, the next we are some random place that I don't know. And names. I am so bad with names but Wendig kept throwing names out there that I was supposed to know but didn't.
LIKES:
+ The snippets where we get to find out how people will die were actually pretty interesting and, in my opinion, some of the better-written parts of the book. They were still pretty gruesome and over-the-top, but at least they weren't pogo-sticking all over the place.
+ There were certainly plenty of plot twists, and I was surprised by a ton of the twists and turns. In this way, the confusing plot actually helped with the suspense because I was so lost that I couldn't predict anything.
DISLIKES:
- Miriam, because of all the reasons listed above
- Confusing plot that made no sense at all
- Miriam's relationships with other people, because she seemed to gravitate towards the people who would treat her horribly. And then when there was someone who would actually treat her in a decent manner she realized what a bad influence she would be, ran away, and changed nothing about her life.
- Gross details. Over-the-top gross details.
- Ending that made zero sense considering all the stuff that Miriam spews during the book about fate.
I just can't finish this series. I mean I could, but I would just be dragging myself through 3 more books of yuck, and I've decided by TBR is too big for that. I will, however, be trying Wendig's other book Zer0s, because maybe it's better?
See this review on Goodreads.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Book Review: Flame in the Mist
Title: Flame in the Mist
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Flame in the Mist (Book 1)
Well that was disappointing. I honestly should have given up after the first 20 pages but I had been waiting so long to read this book that I figured I would give it another shot... and another one... until I finished the book and just felt let down.
This was probably one of the most boring books that I've read in a while, and a lot of other people really liked it so I'm not sure what went wrong with me when I was reading it... I just couldn't make myself be interested in Mariko's story at all. I felt like I was dragging myself through the book, I wasn't excited to read it at all, and actually decided to edit my essays instead of reading (which I guess I needed to do since I had put them off while reading The End of the Day but still). I also spent way more time on my phone than I normally do, just to avoid picking the book up.
It basically follows Mariko, the future bride of the son of the emperor, as she gets attacked, joins a group of bandits called the Black Clan, and realizes that her life has been wonderful at the expense of others. She also learns how to fend for herself, and just how sheltered she has been. We also get some glimpses into the lives of her brother and the emperor/his wife/his consort, but those were really rare. My issue isn't necessarily with the plot, but just the execution. It seemed to drag on and on and I just lost interest 20 pages in.
Besides the whole instalove thing and slow plot there wasn't really anything I could put my finger on and go "this is why I didn't like the book," I just can't find a reason to like it, if that makes sense.
LIKES:
+ The premise of the book was quite interesting, and with the blurb I really wanted to read it. I almost felt like the blurb was more exciting than the actual book though...
+ When Mariko wasn't complaining she could actually be kinda tough. And she was super inventive, which was nice!
+ Semi-suprising plot twist at the end
DISLIKES:
- Mariko complained A LOT. About everything.
- Instalove
- Really slow plot, and Mariko was really hard to connect to/care about
- It was impossible (for me) to keep track of the characters. I didn't know who was who half of the time.
Now I just have to decide if I am reading Ahdieh's other series... It is supposed to be good, but then again so was this book.
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Flame in the Mist (Book 1)
Well that was disappointing. I honestly should have given up after the first 20 pages but I had been waiting so long to read this book that I figured I would give it another shot... and another one... until I finished the book and just felt let down.
This was probably one of the most boring books that I've read in a while, and a lot of other people really liked it so I'm not sure what went wrong with me when I was reading it... I just couldn't make myself be interested in Mariko's story at all. I felt like I was dragging myself through the book, I wasn't excited to read it at all, and actually decided to edit my essays instead of reading (which I guess I needed to do since I had put them off while reading The End of the Day but still). I also spent way more time on my phone than I normally do, just to avoid picking the book up.
It basically follows Mariko, the future bride of the son of the emperor, as she gets attacked, joins a group of bandits called the Black Clan, and realizes that her life has been wonderful at the expense of others. She also learns how to fend for herself, and just how sheltered she has been. We also get some glimpses into the lives of her brother and the emperor/his wife/his consort, but those were really rare. My issue isn't necessarily with the plot, but just the execution. It seemed to drag on and on and I just lost interest 20 pages in.
Besides the whole instalove thing and slow plot there wasn't really anything I could put my finger on and go "this is why I didn't like the book," I just can't find a reason to like it, if that makes sense.
LIKES:
+ The premise of the book was quite interesting, and with the blurb I really wanted to read it. I almost felt like the blurb was more exciting than the actual book though...
+ When Mariko wasn't complaining she could actually be kinda tough. And she was super inventive, which was nice!
+ Semi-suprising plot twist at the end
DISLIKES:
- Mariko complained A LOT. About everything.
- Instalove
- Really slow plot, and Mariko was really hard to connect to/care about
- It was impossible (for me) to keep track of the characters. I didn't know who was who half of the time.
Now I just have to decide if I am reading Ahdieh's other series... It is supposed to be good, but then again so was this book.
See this review on Goodreads.
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Book Review: The End of the Day
Title: The End of the Day
Author: Claire North
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: N/A
All I can say about this book is...wow. I will admit that I didn't have super high expectations for this book. I had read about the whole lack-of-linear-plot and the fragmented-ish style of writing which is normally a huge warning sign for me because if there's one thing I need in my life it's structure (I don't do well with spontaneous. I hate spontaneous. And change.). So I picked up this book with the expectations that I a) would probably not like it and b) would probably not retain any of the story because for these past two days I haven't even been able to tell you what time it is or what day of the week it is but this book blew my metaphorical socks off! I loved the plot (or lack there of), Charlie was amazing, and I do love myself an apocalypse story. Hence why I liked X-MEN: Apocalypse so much.
There really is no organized plot. It kinda follows a linear progression, but there are also some random loops that you aren't exactly sure when it happened. However, you can generally tell when these are coming because either a) considerate Charlie gives you a heads up or b) it takes place in a totally different location so it's fairly obvious that it's a tangent-type escapade. I think this was part of the reason that I could handle the non-plot, because unlike some books that are just like "whoooo TANGENT!" (that darn beltway...) this one was like "btw tangent coming up" so you could prepare yourself.
Also, there were a ton of random fragments and snippets of conversations which would normally drive me NUTSO but I didn't care and I cannot figure out why. I need to find this insanely calm human being and ask them their secrets because I stress about everything and yet this didn't stress me out. At all. How. Why. Teach me your secrets calm reader. They actually gave you this little insight into current events/happenings and some of them also addressed social issues? Like that random conversation in the drugstore would be talking about people feeling pressured by others to change their bodies but you wouldn't realize it if you skimmed the dialogue?
And now I'm really disappointed because I wish that North had written a book like this for each Harbinger but she didn't and now I get to sob in a little puddle of disappointment as I casually add 6+ of her books to my monstrous TBR.
LIKES:
+ THE BELTWAY. Because 99.99% of highways that I have ever been on are like this. Please, put the exit signs farther back. It would be extremely helpful, especially when that monstrous SUV is blocking the sign. And I also loved how EVERY SINGLE PERSON had to deal with it it was wonderful and I was smiling and (almost) laughed but didn't because I didn't want to have to explain it to other people who were around and yeah...
+ Charlie. Charlie was just the best. He was sufficiently awkward enough that I could connect with him yet also kind and hardworking enough that it just made me really happy inside. He was just so patient (what is patience?) and could give the same speech 20 million times and was completely cool with that.
+ Getting to know snippets/stories for all of these minor characters that you got to see a million of and it just made me the happiest puddle of stress ever because everyone knows I love secondary character development
+ The non-plot was a non-issue. I didn't care, and that was awesome because this book was a HUGE step outside my tiny comfort zone and I loved it!
+ The beltway. I still love the beltway.
+ Also, you got to see all the objects given to the people Charlie visited and sometimes it was explained and sometimes it wasn't and life was OKAY!
DISLIKES:
- Obligatory romance complaints here. (But being honest there wasn't that much romance so I REALLY DIDN'T CARE)
This book makes me want to do happy cartwheels up and down the from lawn but with the current weather I would probably either get soaked or hit with a flying tree branch or something so I'll settle for doing internal cartwheels. My heart is very happy right now. I would recommend this to literally anyone (except maybe small children) it was so far out of my comfort zone but it was SO AWESOME. One of my new favorite books.
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Claire North
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: N/A
All I can say about this book is...wow. I will admit that I didn't have super high expectations for this book. I had read about the whole lack-of-linear-plot and the fragmented-ish style of writing which is normally a huge warning sign for me because if there's one thing I need in my life it's structure (I don't do well with spontaneous. I hate spontaneous. And change.). So I picked up this book with the expectations that I a) would probably not like it and b) would probably not retain any of the story because for these past two days I haven't even been able to tell you what time it is or what day of the week it is but this book blew my metaphorical socks off! I loved the plot (or lack there of), Charlie was amazing, and I do love myself an apocalypse story. Hence why I liked X-MEN: Apocalypse so much.
There really is no organized plot. It kinda follows a linear progression, but there are also some random loops that you aren't exactly sure when it happened. However, you can generally tell when these are coming because either a) considerate Charlie gives you a heads up or b) it takes place in a totally different location so it's fairly obvious that it's a tangent-type escapade. I think this was part of the reason that I could handle the non-plot, because unlike some books that are just like "whoooo TANGENT!" (that darn beltway...) this one was like "btw tangent coming up" so you could prepare yourself.
Also, there were a ton of random fragments and snippets of conversations which would normally drive me NUTSO but I didn't care and I cannot figure out why. I need to find this insanely calm human being and ask them their secrets because I stress about everything and yet this didn't stress me out. At all. How. Why. Teach me your secrets calm reader. They actually gave you this little insight into current events/happenings and some of them also addressed social issues? Like that random conversation in the drugstore would be talking about people feeling pressured by others to change their bodies but you wouldn't realize it if you skimmed the dialogue?
And now I'm really disappointed because I wish that North had written a book like this for each Harbinger but she didn't and now I get to sob in a little puddle of disappointment as I casually add 6+ of her books to my monstrous TBR.
LIKES:
+ THE BELTWAY. Because 99.99% of highways that I have ever been on are like this. Please, put the exit signs farther back. It would be extremely helpful, especially when that monstrous SUV is blocking the sign. And I also loved how EVERY SINGLE PERSON had to deal with it it was wonderful and I was smiling and (almost) laughed but didn't because I didn't want to have to explain it to other people who were around and yeah...
+ Charlie. Charlie was just the best. He was sufficiently awkward enough that I could connect with him yet also kind and hardworking enough that it just made me really happy inside. He was just so patient (what is patience?) and could give the same speech 20 million times and was completely cool with that.
+ Getting to know snippets/stories for all of these minor characters that you got to see a million of and it just made me the happiest puddle of stress ever because everyone knows I love secondary character development
+ The non-plot was a non-issue. I didn't care, and that was awesome because this book was a HUGE step outside my tiny comfort zone and I loved it!
+ The beltway. I still love the beltway.
+ Also, you got to see all the objects given to the people Charlie visited and sometimes it was explained and sometimes it wasn't and life was OKAY!
DISLIKES:
- Obligatory romance complaints here. (But being honest there wasn't that much romance so I REALLY DIDN'T CARE)
This book makes me want to do happy cartwheels up and down the from lawn but with the current weather I would probably either get soaked or hit with a flying tree branch or something so I'll settle for doing internal cartwheels. My heart is very happy right now. I would recommend this to literally anyone (except maybe small children) it was so far out of my comfort zone but it was SO AWESOME. One of my new favorite books.
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.
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.
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