Novella Review: The Lost Sisters (The Folk of the Air #1.5)

Release Date: October 2, 2018
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Length: 50 pages
Source: Purchased eBook/Audiobook

Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes...

While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke.

Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.

The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince, by master writer Holly Black.

    

Review:

Protagonist: So, I'm not the biggest fan of Taryn, but I was interested to hear her side of the story, at least as much as she gives, and after reading this novella I do feel I have a greater understanding of her character and why she made the choices that she did. This story is greatly focused on the origin of Taryn's relationship with Locke and how thing went so terribly wrong for Jude. One of the things I took away from this story is how much Taryn and Jude are alike, they both want to find their place in Elfhame and even though they make different choices, they both make difficult and sometimes regrettable choices to solidify their place in Court.

Romance: Taryn's romance with Locke wasn't nearly as romantic as Jude's sham romance with him in The Cruel Prince. Locke's courtship of Taryn felt a lot more forward than how he woos Jude, and while I understand why Taryn falls for him or even believes she falls for him, this story makes Locke look even worse than he was in TCP. Locke and Taryn both like stories, and Taryn very much wants to believe herself in a story or to be a part of someone else's story. Even though I don't "ship" these two together, as I feel even Taryn deserves someone better than Locke, I appreciated the chance to have a deeper understanding of their relationship.

World Building: This novella tells key events from The Cruel Prince from Taryn's perspective, as well as new scenes showing what Taryn was up to while Jude was swept away in her portion of the story. First off, I really love how this novella is told, from Taryn's perspective as an apology and explanation to Jude, who is referred to as "you" throughout the story. I actually enjoyed getting new scenes in this world and learning a tad more about it. Now, there's not too much world-building, but I will say that if you're thinking that this is going to be some story that redeems Taryn and/or Locke or make you sympathize with one or both of them, that isn't necessarily true. I understand why Taryn does what she but that doesn't mean that I like her as a character now, and honestly, I still don't fully understand why it is that Locke does what he does, and I actually came out of this hating Locke more than I did in TCP.

Predictability: There's not too much I can say here as this is a short novella and there are a great many things about this story you would already know from reading TCP. However, I will say there are a few small twists in this story and things didn't go the way I had expected them to even if the destination is more or less the same.

Ending: If I had one negative when it came to this story it's that it didn't go on long enough. This story ends before Dain's botched coronation and while I completely understand why it ends where it does, as Taryn does fully explain why she did what she did, I still found myself wanting more. There's a scene at the end of The Cruel Prince, where Taryn finds herself holding the crown of Elfhame and I really wanted to know her thoughts there, or her thoughts when Jude walked in with Cardan, and even her point of view during and after her duel with Jude. Still, I did appreciate that the author stuck to telling this story as an explanation and not just "Taryn's view of events" as it gives the story more meaning and tells the story it was meant to.

Rating:

While yes, I would have liked to see certain scenes from Taryn's perspective that we didn't get to see, I enjoyed this story immensely. I don't sympathize with Taryn, but I understand why she made the choices she made and I loved learning what she was willing to do to secure her place in Faerie.

Book Review: Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #1)

Release Date: December 4, 2018
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 912 pages
Source: Purchased Book/eBook

Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy.

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks.

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

    

Review:

Characters: This story begins right after the end of Lord of Shadows, meaning most of our protagonists are in mourning after the tragic murders of Robert Lightwood and Livia Blackthorn. Much of this story deals with loss and how our protagonists cope with their grief. In fact, a lot of the choices that these characters make going forward has the tragedy of Livvy's death in mind, whether consciously or not. Losing someone like that, and the fear of losing someone else can make people do crazy things. I loved seeing how all our protagonists faced their struggles, even if I didn't agree with how they chose to handle their grief, and the journey that they all take, whether alone or together, in this story is fantastic. Since this is an insanely long book, there's so much that these characters go through, so many trials and tribulations, yet every choice they make, every step they take, feels organic and authentic to who they are as characters and even when I don't agree with their choices, if they were to make "the right" choice, it wouldn't feel as realistic as them making "the wrong" choice.

Romances: This series focuses on two main romances, that of Julian and Emma, the parabatai that were never meant to fall in love, and Kieran/Cristina/Mark the "love triangle" of this series. When I first started this series I wasn't expecting to get as swept away by the romances in this series as I did, and this installment brings everything to an amazing head and the complications of these romances aren't small little things that are easily dealt with, there are real stakes in this story that extend to the romance as well, partially because in Emma and Julian's case their romance is one of the main plot points of this entire series. I love how everything comes together and even the smaller romances in this series, the ones featured in the past, or will be featured more heavily in the future, despite the heartaches, there's always hope, and that's always something I've loved about Cassie's works, there's always hope.

World-Building: Ohmigosh! Seriously this installment cranks everything up to 11 and doesn't exactly stop. This is a story where things are going to get worse before they get better, which is mainly why it took me so dang long to finish this story. In addition to all the assholery (yes, that's a word) that goes on from the members of the Cohort, there are quite a few scenes that brought back memories from the other final installments in The Shadowhunter Chronicles so far. I can't talk really talk about them in anything other than very vague terms as they're huge spoilers, but even though I wasn't a huge fan of one of the aspects to the story at first, as I felt it was TOO reminiscent of a previous finale, by the time that aspect was finished, it felt so immensely important that I didn't mind it anymore and in fact I'm hoping to see more in the future. This is also an installment where big changes come, and the Shadow World may never be the same after this installment.

Predictability: Holy Crap. I'll admit it's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, but looking back I can't pick out a single moment that I saw coming in advance. On the contrary, there were so many moments that completely blew me away and the twists and turns this story takes will keep you gasping until the very end of the book.

Ending: What a phenomenal final climax. I mean, I wasn't expecting such a phenomenal action sequence full of heartache, heartbreak, and just heart. So much goes down in the final climax of the story, but that's not the end. Even though there are a few moments of high tension after the final climax, including something that left me stunned speechless, I think it's more than safe to refer to the "final battle" of this book as the final climax. After all, is said and done and all the crazy insane stuff goes down, there are a couple of chapters that show the characters that are left and what they're up to and there's one scene that had me bawling like a baby and I'm not even ashamed.

Rating:

It's no surprise to me that I love this final conclusion to The Dark Artifices. This series is so tense and exciting and overall amazing. There's so much more I could say about this story and how much I love it, but I feel if I go on too much longer I won't be able to censor myself from spoilers.

Book Review: Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1)

Release Date: October 1, 2002
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 310 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Newcomer Holly Black's enormously powerful voice weaves teen angst, riveting romance, and capriciously diabolical faerie folk into an enthralling, engaging, altogether original reading experience.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Kaye has lived most of her life moving from place to place with her less than stable mother. When she and her mother have to move back in with Kaye's grandmother, Kaye finds herself sucked (not literally) into the land of Faeries, when she saves a Faerie Knight one night. Soon she's in too deep, discovering secrets about herself that not even the rest of her family knows and putting her life on the line in a struggle between the Seelie and Unseelie fae. One of the things I love most about Kaye is that she's not your typical YA heroine. She smokes, she shoplifts, and she'll do something wrong even if she knows it's wrong. Granted, I don't want to "become" Kaye, but the flaws and complexities to her character really make her stand out, while not making her so unlikable that I don't want to root for her. In fact despite her flaws I wanted her to succeed every step of the way in this book, and regardless of where she ends up, she does not succeed at every step along the way.

Romance: Another thing that was pleasantly surprising to me is the romance in this story. It's not all consuming like the YA books published around this time always seemed to be. Instead it burns at a constant, but slow, rate that I ended up really enjoying. While Roiben isn't the perfect love interest, he comes pretty darn close and the chemistry that he and Kaye have is undeniable. These two characters start off fairly counterpointed as Roiben is much more formal and polite while Kaye... isn't. She's got a sharp tongue and she doesn't care who she stabs with it, while Roiben uses words like a fencer uses a saber, graceful and elegant. It wasn't hard to start rooting for them even before they actually started to truly tolerate each other.

World Building: FAERIES!!!! So, while I haven't been reading a lot of Faerie stories lately, I loved falling back into a world governed by dark tricksters and mischievous gremlins. While this story does begin in the modern world, and by all appearances, "our" world, it doesn't take too long for the magical mayhem to begin. This version of Faerie, as there are so many different kinds, i divided into the Seelie, Unseelie, and Solitary Fae. Considering this series is canonically part of the "Folk of the Air" trilogy, the first book of which is The Cruel Prince, I'll have to reread that book to remember how all the different parts of faerie connect. Anyway, the world Holly Black creates in this book is breathtaking, I mean, I couldn't stop wanting to see more and more of what this world held. This world is as wondrous as faerie fruit, sweet and addictive, but have too much and you may go mad!

Predictability: I was completely blown away at how unpredictable this story is. I mean, considering this book isn't exactly a spring chicken in the YA world, the fact that its story doesn't feel full of stale and thrown out tropes years later, and can still knock me off my feet at some of the twists and turns this story holds, is magnificent. Looking back I'm trying to see if there was any time when I knew for sure what would happen, and maybe it's because I haven't read very much in a while, but nothing felt obvious about this book, even when I tried to predict something, nothing felt certain.

Ending: This story has a more wrapped up ending that I expected for a trilogy. Though, that's because the next book in this series is a companion, while the "technical" sequel to this book is actually book 3. On the whole though, you could read this story as a standalone, there's enough closure to the story that I don't need to come back, though I will because I love this book and why not, but everything wraps up well for now, and I could see how waiting a while between installments could have really hurt if there wasn't as much closure as there is in this story. As for the final climax, well I'll just say that things didn't unfold how I expected them to. This isn't your typical YA final climax and the diversity in storytelling with it was a treat to behold.

Rating:

Yeah, it's hard to deny that I love this book! It holds up incredibly well after sixteen years and I practically devoured every word of this brilliantly crafted tale. Honestly, I thought Holly Black grew into her writing over time, but no, she's always been this good!

Book Review: The Angel Gift (Dark Word: The Angel Trials #4)

Release Date: September 30, 2018
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 270 pages
Source: Review Copy from the Author

Everyone is separated, and no one is safe.

Raven Danvers didn’t think her life could get any crazier since the night a demon attacked her in an alley and abducted her mom.

She was wrong.

Because now that same demon has abducted her too. He’s thrown her into a secret bunker with a group of humans who have unique abilities that make them “gifted.” They don’t know what the demons want with them, and the bunker is impossible to escape.

Her only hope is Noah—the wolf shifter she’s imprinted upon. She just needs to let him know where she is. But she can’t do it alone. Her only way to get a message to him is to team up with the other humans by making use of their unique gifts.

But they have to do it fast. Because their time in the bunker is temporary. The demons are prepping them to go somewhere else… somewhere far worse than where they are now.

They don’t know what this place is.

They just know they really, really don’t want to find out.

Get ready for a magical, twist-filled ride in the fourth installment of The Angel Trials series, a fast-paced urban fantasy adventure that will leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more!

  

Review:

Protagonists: In this installment, the POV characters are switched up a bit. There’s a greater focus on Noah and Thomas, specifically Noah as I think he has the most chapters out of anyone, even Raven, in this book. We do get to see quite a bit of Raven though, as she learns more about both her captivity and her “gifted” human status. Interestingly, Sage does not narrate any chapters in this book, which makes sense due to her being forced into the blood bond at the end of the previous installment and this story does go into why her having a POV chapter wouldn’t be so interesting without actually addressing it head-on. Finally there is a new POV, or at least I think her POV is new, and that’s Mara, Azazel’s daughter, I was extremely surprised at how much I liked her chapters, sure her character arc does feel a bit tropey, but it’s a trope that I like so I’m completely on board. I really loved reading from all these characters POVs, each one (apart from the last chapter POV) had something to learn and experience over the course of this tale, except maybe Noah, which is a little disappointing, I mean there are plenty of other characters that had phenomenal development in this story, but since he has the majority of POV chapters, not to mention that he’s my favorite character, I would have liked to see some more development from him in this story and more of a purpose in this installment than just the guy who wants to get Raven back.

Romance: There was actually very little romance in this story, I mean it’s not surprising as our two main romantic couples have been separated, not to mention the fact that an individual in one of those couples, Sage, has been so fundamentally changed that she’s pretty much not the same person anymore. There is some romance in this story, though there isn’t much romantic development, and certainly no romantic development with our two main couples as they need to overcome a few obstacles before those relationships can continue to develop. The romantic development that is in this story is more laying the groundwork for another couple, Flint and Mara, finally showing Mara’s side of things and her feelings about her imprinting bond with Flint after the blood bonding ritual.

World Building: How the world Building unfolds in this installment feels a bit different than the previous installments in the series, I mean, there is expansion to the world, we start to get a better idea about what the demons are planning, in fact, I’m pretty sure I know what their endgame is, but I did leave this story with more questions than answers as to HOW they will accomplish this feat. Still, in many ways this story feels like filler, pretty open and shut in terms of the amount of story progress this installment will have, and while we have some new information and we’ve met some new people, this felt like more of an unplanned pit stop (or kidnapping, whichever you prefer) on their way to Avalon and while I didn’t expect they’d reach Avalon in this story, which they didn’t, and even though I told myself to view this story as an episode of a TV drama which helped immensely in the previous installment, this story just felt like it was missing something, maybe more about the “gifted” humans, though I suspect we’ll get more on that later, maybe another Mara chapter, maybe even an Azazel chapter, I’m not sure all I know is it feels like it’s missing SOMETHING. (Edit: About a day after writing this review I realized what that SOMETHING was, I talk about it in the conclusion.)

Predictability: Overall this installment did feel very by the numbers, there were, of course, a few moments over the course of the book that caught me off guard, such as what I think Azazel’s, and by extension many if not all of the demons’, plans are, but even then, when I’m caught off guard like that, I’m not surprised, in fact, I was only surprised two times and they were both towards the end. Also, I will say that there are a couple moments in this tale that seem a bit too easy and a bit too constructed which pulled me out of the story a few times, so I do wish things were a bit harder on our protagonists, that way they feel like they’ve really earned their victory, should they have one.

Ending: Again, as it seems the theme of this review is, the ending was pretty predictable, and while this was the only time in the entire story that I was truly surprised, that only applies to two moments in the last few chapters. The final climax is great and included one of the shocking and surprising moments, but it did play out mostly how I expected. There was also only one point during this story that I was at all confused, and that was the final chapter. In Madow’s typical Dark World form we have a final chapter from the POV of someone new, but unlike past, let’s just call them epilogues, unlike past epilogues this one didn’t have the same cliffhanger gut punch for me that it usually does, I feel like I missed some subtext or just plain text because while I felt I understood what was going on, I just didn’t feel that signature Madow stomach dropping cliffhanger, but then again, I’d rather have a calmer ending than that torture-fest and the end of the last installment.

Rating:

While I did utterly devour this installment, as I said numerous times in this review, it’s missing something, everything that’s in the book is fantastic, except for maybe the epilogue, but it's been about a day since I wrote this review and upon reflection I realized what it was missing, it was missing all of the great character interactions from the previous installments, while I love seeing our main characters interacting with newer and returning characters, because everyone's split up, there's sort of a hole left in the story that not even a fantastic story like this could fill in.

Book Review: The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1)

Release Date: October 1, 1996
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Length: 279 pages
Source: Audible Audiobook

Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut," wrote Kirkus in a starred review of Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen's stories and Gen's story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Once claiming to be a thief who can steal anything Gen is now rotting in prison in Sounis when the King's magus comes to retrieve him for a mission where he could gain fame and fortune or a knife in the back. Joining Gen and the magus on their journey are the magus's apprentices Sophos and Ambiades, as well as a soldier and bodyguard named Pol. On this journey, Gen often butts heads with his companions, but along the adventure, he proves to be a capable and cunning thief. I love that Gen's flaws don't come from his profession, something that has been established he excels at, instead, his faults come in his pride and, like most fantasy heroes, his stubbornness. Over the course of the story, I loved seeing Gen come out of his shell as well as learn more about where his true motives lie.

World Building: My favorite thing about this story is that throughout their journey the magus and Gen trade stories about the gods of this world, gods that are very obviously inspired by the Greco-Roman pantheon of gods. The stories are a joy to behold in this tale, while I was a little anxious as I wasn't sure if the stories would be based on Greek and Roman myths or if the stories would be brand new, while most of the stories are original there are of course bits and pieces that are pulled from Greek myths. The stories in this book deal mostly with the creation of the world as well as tales relating to a specific god and the item that our group seeks. There isn't a whole lot of development of this world in the story beyond setting up the three kingdoms that we see, however, there are five more books in this series so there's a whole lot more to explore in the future. As for any romance in this story, well, there isn't any, however, I did think that Gen and one of his traveling companions had slow-burning romance, but by the time the story was over, I realized just how wrong I was.

Predictability: This story isn't particularly long and while there are a fair number of twists, I felt like the characters pointing said twists out in the book lessened some of that gut punch that a good twist will give you. For most of the story, I had a vague idea of where everything was headed but was stumped on how it would end, which we'll get to in a second, the end had the most twists and turns and it was during the cooldown period where I was the most blown away with how everything ended up.

Ending: The final climax of this story is excellent. As the story winds to close things get crazy as our group of adventurers and treasure seekers find themselves in a few sticky situations and they are forced to navigate their way out. I don't want to say too much but there is at least one action scene and there may have been a plethora of emotions unleashed on me as this story not only overcame the final climax but came to a close during the "cooldown" period, I put cooldown in quotes because there are plenty of twists during this point and they didn't exactly cool down the story. The story doesn't end with a cliffhanger, and in fact, you could probably read this as a standalone if you didn't enjoy it, but for me, I can't wait to explore more of this world and the mythology the pulled me in in the first place.

Rating:

I loved this story and the only thing I feel I can complain about is that it's too short, but again, there are more books and more to explore and when I can I'll be diving right back in!

Book Review: Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)

Release Date: August 9, 2016
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Length: 429 pages
Source: Purchased Book

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

    

Review:

Protagonist: Mia Corvere lost her family in one night due to her father's failed rebellion, now she needs to get revenge on those that killed her father, but she cannot take on this task without training first. Mia seeks out the Red Church, a school for assassins where she needs to be honed to a razor's edge. I love Mia and all the shades and shadows that make her a great morally gray character. Mia's not a good person, sure she has a bit of a heart, but she won't let anything stop her from getting the revenge she feels she rightly deserves. Mia's a complex character that I just love to read from, she's a bit unpredictable, which always makes for a good time, and she has a lot of something I feel more and more protagonists are lacking and that's common sense. Mia's smart and practically already an assassin when this story begins, yet I never felt like her character development was held back because of that, this is more about honing Mia's skill and her journey to avenge her familia and discover the secrets of what she is.

Romance: One of the things I loved about the romance in this story is that it doesn't infringe on the rest of the story, sure it matters, it has its place in the story, and it's not shoved toward the back or the front, it's just there and how it plays into the rest of the story I felt was brilliantly handled. Mia's not exactly a warm character so it was really interesting to see how she approached the romance she has in this story. There is a bond between the couple and I really enjoyed seeing that explored. Everything felt so natural, I mean, it was almost unreal how natural the two characters feel together and how natural their romance and relationship progresses in the story.

World Building: The world building in this tale is incredible. All over this story are footnotes that give additional information on the world and the mythos of this dark fantasy world. Well, I say dark but really this world hardly sees a truedark, most of the time it's day, and that's only the base surface of this world. I'm a huge sucker for a school or test setting where a group of characters is brought together and only a few will succeed in the task set before them, and this is probably the best version I've ever seen of that trope. Plus there's a murder mystery aspect to the story that blew me away, what else did you expect to happen at a school for assassins? This story is a bit dense towards the beginning, it took me a while to really find my groove with the story but once I got the hang of things, everything went a lot smoother. I will also say that I listened to all of this story as an Audible audiobook and I'd warn if you're thinking about listening to this story as an audiobook, I'd follow along for the first couple of chapters because it goes back and forth in time quite a bit and it's harder to follow on the audiobook at first.

Predictability: I don't think I predicted a single thing in this story, not even joking, there was this one moment where I thought the story was going in one direction, I thought that something pretty tropey was happening, and in the space of a couple seconds everything changed and the story barreled on in a different direction and it was glorious. With some of the twists I'd play around with the truth, but things never truly made sense until minutes before the reveal, if not seconds. Also, I listened to this story in six chapters at a time, so I don't know if it's that or how the story is told but it's so complex that I'll forget about plot points at certain times so I never really had a lot of time to truly consider what would happen when certain things were revealed.

Ending: The end of this tale is glorious. I mean, action scene after action scene, amazing twists, possible foreshadowing to bigger things and a LOT of death, what more could you ask for? I can't even really just talk about the final climax because there were a few different climactic moments toward the end and all of them need to be praised because that is some of, if not the best, action scene writing I've ever read. I was completely sucked into the story, into the carnage and death all around, soaking it in. Then, when the dust settled and losses counted, there was one of my favorite things to see in books, an epilogue, and this epilogue was truly something. It gives a lot of closure on the events of this story and teases what's to come for the next book, or at least I hope it does, and while this story doesn't leave off on a cliffhanger, I'm desperate to know what happens next.

Rating:

This is by far one of my favorite books of all time, I loved the complex characters, the intricate and detailed world building, a romance that felt just right, and a mystery and path of revenge I cannot wait to continue following!

Book Review: Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron #1)

Release Date: February 27, 2018
Author: Ashley Poston
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 480 pages
Source: OwlCrate Book/Audible Audiobook

Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him.

Ana’s desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he doesn’t care what he’ll sacrifice to keep them.

When everything goes wrong, she and the Ironblood end up as fugitives on the run. Now their entire kingdom is after them—and the coordinates—and not everyone wants them captured alive.

What they find in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives—and unearth dangerous secrets. But when a darkness from Ana’s past returns, she must face an impossible choice: does she protect a kingdom that wants her dead or save the Metal boy she loves?

    

Review:

Protagonists: This story is told from four, third-person, POVs. We have Ana, the orphan girl raised by a crew of outlaws, Robb, the screw-up son of a noble family with a mission, Di, the Metal boy who's Ana's best friend and medic, and Jax, the best pilot in the galaxy with a tragic past, I quickly came to love most of these characters, though I have to say that I felt we didn't get a lot of time to truly know Di, and while I care for him because Ana and the others care for him, I couldn't really get invested in his character all that much. Ana is a fantastic heroine, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, she's a force to be reckoned with, Robb has a deep sense of loyalty to those who deserve it, and Jax is pretty much the personification of my favorite character trope, the cocky yet damaged character. None of these characters are perfect, they each have their flaws, whether it be poor impulse control or an inability to move on, they're flawed, but each has the potential to grow.

Romances: So, I wasn't a huge fan of one of the biggest romances in this story. See, Ana has feelings for Di, or D09 as he's sometimes referred to as, and whether it was the fact that Ana has these feelings from the beginning of the story, Di's appearance not being very humanoid, the fact that he's a fairly emotionless robot, or some combination of the three, I just couldn't get into their romance. Eventually, it gets to a point where there's hope that I might get invested in their romance, but things happen and the book ends before I can really get invested. The other main romance in this story though, I did really enjoy. Robb, a cocky and rogueish noble, and Jax, the pilot with a dark past, have some really great moments in this story. There's one scene, that kind of reminds me of Star Wars, but their dialogue during that scene was fantastic and I felt there are so many fantastic moments between them in this story, yet not really enough. For what there is, it's fantastic, and it doesn't affect my rating that I want more, I just want more.

World Building: The world building in this story is fantastic, from the history to the mythology of this world everything was captivating. I don't read too much sci-fi, but this is the sci-fi that I love, space battles, outlaws flying through space, lost royalty, mysteries, I love it all. This story also has major Cinder by Marissa Meyer vibes, mixed with a little Star Wars. This is also an Anastasia story after all and while I think this story did a pretty good job in that area, it was how things diverged from the story being retold that really fascinated me. There are some fantasy elements mixed with the sci-fi in some of the best ways I've ever seen and the royal angle of this story and the secrets hidden in Ana's family history are astounding. There's a lot built out in just this one installment, so much that I'm wondering if this might be a duology.

Predictability: This story is on the predictable side of things, not only with it being a retelling but the foreshadowing was pretty obvious as well. Take, for example, there's something in this story that could have been a truly amazing twist, I mean mind-blowing, but I felt like I got all of the pieces to that puzzle quite a while before it was revealed, there are quite a few twists that went that way, though there were a few times, particularly toward the end where things were more shocking.

Ending: The final climax of this story is fantastic, it's intense and chaotic. There's a lot that goes into setting it up and everything leading to this final mix of scenes was fantastic. As I said earlier, there are a lot of shocking, and some not so shocking, moments in the end and I pretty much raced through this story until the ending because I could hardly stop. There is a bit of a breath after the final climax but still as things unravel and even though there wasn't really a cliffhanger, the ending does feel too soon, and I'm excited to see where things go.

Rating:

Even though I had a few problems with one of the characters and one of the romances, I still really love this story and cannot wait to dive into the next (and final?) installment!

Book Review: Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1)

Release Date: July 7, 2015
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: NAL
Length: 355 pages
Source: Purchased Book/Library Audiobook

In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time…

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly--but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.

When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life--and soon both heretics and books will burn…

    

Review:

Protagonist: Jess Brightwell lives in a world where the Great Library of Alexandria not only stands the test of time but has grown in power as they control the flow of knowledge to the masses. Jess doesn't really want to work for his father as a book smuggler, as owning physical books is illegal in this world, and he doesn't want to take over the family business. So when Jess's father asks him to be a spy for his family within the Library, his father doesn't exactly give him a choice. Now Jess has to pass the Library's tests while not getting found out, but training for service in the Library can be very dangerous as Jess and his class soon find out. I really like Jess, he's a bit headstrong, slightly short-tempered, but he's also loyal and fights for what he thinks is right. His character development over the course of the story feels authentic with the challenges he faces on his journey to become part of the Great Library.

Romance: I actually really liked the romance in this story but it definitely didn't go as I had expected. For a YA book, there is surprisingly little romance, it's very light and innocent. Jess and his love interest are sort of shoved together because of circumstance, and while there are times when I felt the romance was a little forced for sake of convenience to the story, I actually did end up really liking them together, though I hope to see something more from their relationship in future installments.

World Building: So, going into this story all I knew about this world was that it took place in a world where the Great Library of Alexandria survives, I was expecting it to be more of a fantasy, but in fact, it turns out to be more of a dystopian story instead. Still, I was fascinated by a world controlled by the Great Library where owning a physical book is illegal and if you declare war on the library, you’re wiped from existence. One of the fantastic ways this author introduces you to how power hungry the Library is, is through letters between chapters between Library personnel. I was drawn into this world from the beginning, the book smuggling, the Burners, and even some things that we don’t get very much information on in this book, but are more than intriguing enough for me to continue.

Predictability: I will say though that this story is pretty predictable, I felt like all of the twists, save a small few, were spoiled before they were actually revealed because the foreshadowing was so heavy just before the revelation. Also, it’s a good thing I didn’t read the synopsis before starting the book because I feel it gives just a little too much away.

Ending: This story does have a very tense ending. There are moments I experienced such pure emotions, both good and bad, towards and about some of the characters. The final climax isn't exactly an action-packed one, it's more about the tension of the moments without any physical confrontation. It's really great and leads to some amazing twists that will affect the future of this story. This book doesn't exactly leave you on a cliffhanger, but there's so much left unresolved here and I'm actually looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Rating:

I really enjoyed this story, I wasn't expecting the dystopian element so that threw me off a little, but I am really intrigued by the world and the power-hungry Library, it can be a tad predictable and the story didn't suck me in as much as I'd like, but I'll be interested to see what happens next.

Book Review: Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)

Release Date: July 11, 2017
Author: Chris Colfer
Publisher: Little, Brown Book for Young Readers
Length: 480 pages
Source: Purchased Book/Audible Audiobook

The epic conclusion to Chris Colfer's #1 New York Times bestselling series The Land of Stories!

In the highly anticipated conclusion to the Land of Stories series, Conner and Alex must brave the impossible. All of the Land of Stories fairy tale characters--heroes and villains--are no longer confined within their world!

With mayhem brewing in the Big Apple, Conner and Alex will have to win their biggest battle yet. Can the twins restore order between the human and fairy tale world?

Breathtaking action mixed with laugh out loud moments and lots of heart will make this a gripping conclusion for many fans!

    

Review:

Protagonists: After Alex's disappearance Connor has been out of his mind with worry about where she might be, meanwhile Morina has begun her plan to invade the Otherworld with the witches from the Land of Stories and the Literary Army. When the worlds begin to collide, hopefully, Connor and his friends can save Alex, and their world, before it's too late. What can I really say, I love these characters, I've loved following their journey through this series and while their character development was a bit heavy-handed and could have been more subtle, I still enjoyed our characters journeys through this finale, and their actions felt very authentic to their characters.

Romance: As this is the final book in this series and there has been a touch of romance since the third installment, there is still a touch of romance in this book as well. Alex has had a couple flirtations and while she does have more important things to do than worry over her love life in this book, and I love that the author never pushed the romance too much, especially in times of crisis, except one but it completely fit and was a spectacular moment, but it was neither Alex nor Connor's moment. Anyway there is a level of conclusion to her romantic drama, and of course, there's Connor who, while there's technically only one girl he's had feelings for this entire series, does find some good closure on that relationship as well, though the prologue kind of spoils things, we'll get to the prologue later.

World Building: In this book worlds truly do collide as the Land of Stories is set to collide with the Otherworld. One of the things I really commend this story on is showing a true battle and following various groups of heroes as they take on the threat to New York City. While the battle does feel a bit formulaic, it was still a lot of fun to experience. We do get to see more characters from the past as well, although one of my biggest frustrations is that there are aspects of this book that have way too much of a recap feel to them. This story is also very message heavy, while I'm not opposed to stories having specific messages, I especially understand having them in fairy tale-inspired stories, the messages here are far too heavy handed. I mean, instead of following someone's journey where they learn from their mistakes and it's left at that, this story makes sure that you understand just what it is that those characters learn, though that may be just an unfortunate side effect of the writing. I'm not saying the writing is bad, in fact, there are some spectacular moments in this story that I loved but the writing can be a bit rough and direct at times and lack a certain finesse.

Predictability: Looking over this story I can't say there was much, if anything I was able to predict, there were a few small things I was spoiled on, but they were a tad predictable, to begin with, but everything else, well while I can't say I saw it coming, nothing wasn't a huge surprise. There were a few moments that almost caught me by surprise but even if I was able to predict something shortly before it happened, it didn't change how some of those twists affected me.

Ending: Sigh, the end of this book... See the final climaxes of this story are amazing, like I said before there's a really fantastic battle and things are intense and awesome, and then there's the final threat. I like the way it was dealt with and it really speaks to the themes of this series and it fit very well, there's even a great scene just before the end with the twins in a specific office... Things begin to settle down, we get some great closure on some of our favorite heroes and the stories ends very well, then there's the epilogue. Many of you may know that I love epilogues, but both the prologue and epilogue felt unnecessary in this book. The prologue just felt out of place and while I understand the purpose the author had for it, it really didn't need to be there, much like the epilogue which brings a sort of full circle ending to the story and while it's possible this may not be the last series in this world, and while I wouldn't turn my nose up at that, I still don't like how open-ended this book is for the final book in a series.

Rating:

While I still really enjoyed this final installment in one of my favorite series, between how open-ended the story is, especially for a conclusion, and how heavy-handed the messages are in this story, I did feel a little disappointed in this finale.