Review: Crown of Frost

Crown of Frost by Isabella August
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

As soon as I read the summary as saw this sentence "Wicked faeries, missing memories... and a dream that just won't die" I was intrigued. The concept of the story I was soon to find was actually a new take on the standard 'Fae' fantasy romance. I enjoyed the urban elements, it made it feel as if this could happen to anyone.

We meet Elaine, five years after her escape from the darkest realm in Arcadia. But she keeps having dream/nightmares but can't remember everything that happened whilst she was trapped in Arcadia. What she can remember is the blue eyes of a mysterious man. She is a witch but is trying to stay hidden so as not to be dragged back into the games of the Fae lords who rule Arcadia.

Enter Liam and his beautiful cold blue eyes who needs help from Elaine but has also come to protect her.... You see where this is going...

The trope for the romance in this is pretty standard, but very well done. Side character where very well fleshed out and actually had important roles to play. I have read many books like this that just insert characters to make it seem well rounded but fail to actually flesh these characters out. I feel any of the characters introduced (Simon, Jenna or Pallid Valentine) could go on to have books of their own and they would be just as interesting as this one. The world was instantly interesting and actually a relatively new concept. I enjoyed the book and would be very happy to continue to read on and see what happens with the other Fae Lords in Arcadia. It was a high, solid 3* from me, I thought about 4* but there were some elements that just needed a bit more fine tuning.

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Review: Rose Petal Graves

Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. It was advertised as being a romantic fantasy that would appeal to those who liked Twilight and The vampire Diaries as well as for people who are "Fans of Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Stephenie Meyer..."

So as that seems right up my street I thought I would give it ago...

So first up, it isn't a really bad book. It just seemed to have a lot of issues early on. Love interest wise, I'm still slightly confused but it did pick up towards the end. In fact the whole things seems to have found it's feet by the end. I thought the hunter / fae supernatural element was overall interesting but needed some work. Same with the writing style. I tend to be a character driven reader and I found this book just took a long time to really build any character. Like, any of them.

The issues is I don't honestly know if I want to invest more time in the rest of the series. I found the magic system interesting, but nothing spectacular. For the type of book it was, I kind of wanted more 'heat' in the relationships. everything overall just felt a bit passive and not quite fleshed out.

It was not the worst book I have ever read hence the 3*, but it was only just 3*. it was very nearly 2*. So will I continue the series... even though the series is technically free.... probably not unfortunately.

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Review: In Bed with the Earl

In Bed with the Earl by Christi Caldwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I had never read anything by this author but wanted a quick romance book to go after some heavier going books.

I didn't really have any expectations going into this book. But, boy, was I pleasantly surprised! The story actually starts out quite dark, you we see a small boy, Malcolm, obviously being stolen away from all he has ever known after the death of his parents. He then has to grown up on the streets and survive and eek out an existence.

We later find out 'shock' 'horror' that he is in fact an Earl. Malcolm doesn't particularly want back into this world of riches and pomp. But ends up drawn back in due to his growing connection to a female journalist who is trying her hardest to provide for herself and her sister after the death of their mother and father. Being bastard daughters has made it difficult for the girls to find their way. But when our heroine brakes the story of the Lost Earl and makes a deal with Malcolm. Everything changes.

I really enjoyed the relationship building in the book. Yes it followed standard tropes for, women fighting the time, marriage of convenience, a partial enemies to lovers theme. It's all in there. But i was genuinely interested in how the characters would develop and it was a very satisfying read overall.

I would happily read more books by this author!

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Review: The Assassin's Blade

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having read the main series in it's entirety just over a year ago, i found it quite easy to slip back into a world I am very familiar with. These 5 novellas cover a series of mini installments all based before the beginning of the first Throne of Glass book.

I'd say you could read them at any point within the series, but may be most impactful after you have built up a relationship with Celeana the heroine.

Now it may get a little spoilery, because honestly their is no way to talk about this book without the main spoiler. Because all the stories build to this one main devastating point.


[
Sam Cortland....

Oh my aching heart! I have never been quite as devastated about a character, even though I knew the outcome. It isn't even truly a spoiler as what happens to him is discussed early in the first book.

So knew he wouldn't make. I knew it led to Celeana ending up In Endovier. But it still completely took the wind out of my sails. The few brief moments Sam and Celeana share where even more upsetting for me knowing it would last. It was written beautifully. I can't even count the amount of times I had to stop reading, to breathe through the pain I knew was coming.

"My name is Sam Cortland, and I will not be afraid."
(hide spoiler)]
Sam Cortland....

Oh my aching heart! I have never been quite as devastated about a character, even though I knew the outcome. It isn't even truly a spoiler as what happens to him is discussed early in the first book.

So knew he wouldn't make. I knew it led to Celeana ending up In Endovier. But it still completely took the wind out of my sails. The few brief moments Sam and Celeana share where even more upsetting for me knowing it would last. It was written beautifully. I can't even count the amount of times I had to stop reading, to breathe through the pain I knew was coming.

"My name is Sam Cortland, and I will not be afraid." 

Overall a brilliant set of novellas that really do add something to the main story. I feel like if I was to reread the series again now, I would take away different things from it. It was an easy 4* for me. Although if I was rating the final story in the book on its on it would be 5*.

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Review: The Fault in Our Stars (19/04/20)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If anyone is unfamiliar with this book, where have you been for decade? I admit I had not read this book. But I did understand the basic story line. The story follows Hazel as she navigates later stages of terminal cancer. She goes about her days muddling through as best she can. Her mum who worries about her mental state encourages her to go to group therapy session once a week. It is there she meets Augustus. They form a friendship full of witty banter and love of reading.

No more summary as its basically all tears from there…

It’s hard to say what I liked about this book. All of it? None of it? How can I like a book that so completely broke my emotional well-being? But I did.

The characters were brilliant. They were funny, so funny. Which was needed in a book that was dealing with the issue of childhood cancer. It was written beautifully and having never read a book by John Green before. I did not know what I was missing. I am ready (almost) to take on any of his other books if they are even half as good as this.

There was nothing I didn’t like about this book honestly. Except all of it. But not really. I guess you only understand if you have read it.

A solid 4 stars. If you want to weep like a baby and are ready to be emotionally distraught. This is the book for you.


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Review: Married to the Rake (20/04/20)

Married to the Rake by Samantha Holt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So on a whim I downloaded this as an eBook to my kindle as part of my unlimited subscription.
As the name and picture imply this is a historical romance. Which follows a very typical enemies to lovers’ format. The main character Chole Larkin is a typical bookish type of heroine. She lives with her family in a typical regency estate happily gallivanting away her days with books and meeting her two close friends. Enter the ‘rake’. Mr Brook Waverly. The son of a neighbouring family, of which the Larkins are sworn enemies. The families share a boundary line which for generations the two families are argued over about 20ft of land, constantly moving the line back and forth.
Can you see where this story is heading?
Chloe and Brook team up to try and stop the constant argument about the line once and for all, so that their aging fathers can finally rest. Obviously, a budding romance begin from this otherwise it would be an extremely poor romance.

I liked the characters. Nothing was too cheesy, as these types of books can sometimes get. It was a quick easy, sweet kind of book. I genuinely want to know about the characters and the sub plot. Her friends were also interesting, and it seems the other 2 books in this series focus on their love lives.

I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t as ‘steamy’ as I would have liked. That was the only thing that for me, would have bumped up the rating. It kind of left me feeling a little bit short changed, but I think that is just my personal taste for these types of books. If you like your romance on the cleaner side, this would probably be right up your street.

Overall a nice, sweet, easy read. A solid 3 stars.

Will this book win awards, no sorry it won’t. But, did I enjoy it? Yes. Will I read the other two in the series? Yes, definitely!


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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (18/04/20)

So this book started off really slow to begin with. I felt like I really struggled to get to the 25% mark. and took me much longer to read than I anticipated. Maybe I just wasn't quite feeling it to begin with. Who knows?

Luckily it got much more interesting with the introduction of Matthais and Nina's characters. I loved the back and forth with their characters. I also liked them much more than Kaz's initial chapters, he took me a long time to warm too. I liked Inej almost straight away as well, her character is so complex yet seems to readily give herself to the reader. I really couldn't work out Kaz Brekker, but I don't think I was meant to. Jesper and Wylan make up the last two characters in the group and they were fun to read and rounded the team off nicely.

The basic plot is the six characters led by Kaz are attempting to break into the Ice Palace to kidnap/recuse/commandeer a prisoner who knows about a drug being used to make Grisha crazy strong and unpredictable. This 'jurda parem' seems to be very dangerous and could threaten the safety of many people. However, this isn't a selfless, heroic kind of adventure. These character are for the most part ruthless and most have questionable morals. The story covers their journey together and the changing relationships within the group, whilst they try to get in, get out and most impotently get their money..

It took me a long time to get used to the swapping between points of view. I was at times, early on, very confused.

Mostly because of the amount of characters there was. I definitely enjoyed reading from some characters view points more than others.

I enjoyed the original Grishaverse trilogy and got through them really quickly so was expecting the same here but this is very different. I don't think I've ever read a true 'heist' style story and I couldn't decided early on if I like it or not. Overall by the end I was hooked. This isn't a book you can put down and then come back to a few days later, you need to keep everything fresh in your head. All the charcaters rounded out and the ending was brilliant. It's been a few days now since finishing and I keep thinking about the characters. I will definietly be continuing the series fairly soon!

I give this book a solid 4*'s. I think if I hadn't found it so confusing in the beginning I would have given it more.