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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The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoshi (11/04/20)

So I am going to level with you all before I begin the review. I went into this book basically knowing nothing. I pre ordered this book on a whim from Fairyloot when they announced the beautiful exclusive hardback edition they would be offering. I saw it. Thought the book looked stunning. Bought it....

Anyway my initial thoughts on the book and the writing in particularly were the writing was that it was a bit flowery for my liking. However, but the book as a whole was surprisingly easy to read. I wasn't a fan of Erin Morgenstern's writing in 'The Night Circus', and I was worried this would be like that. Thankfully it wasn't.

The writing was actually beautiful, it felt similar to how Laini Taylor would write (not concern over coping of stories by the way). And I loved all the books I have so far read by Laini Taylor. Soooo at this point I was happy to start sinking into the world and story. There is a nice simple introduction to the caste system within this world and the 3 girls who are living and working almost like sisters at a Tavern within the 'Ward'. Our main character is a young woman called Nirrim who is part of the 'Half Kith' caste. Along with Morah and Annin they have all been adopted/taken in by a woman we know only as Raven who is technically part of the 'Middling' caste. All lower castes have to follow laws and rules and work to basically please the upper casts the 'High Kith'

When the story properly begins there is a magical bird that basically can make everything better. Nirrim ends up capturing the bird, and from there everything kicks off and she ends in in prison have to pay a 'tithe' for breaking a law.

In prison she meets a flirtatious character going bby the name of Sid... I felt a romance coming. I felt like there was going to be more to this character than meets the eye. And I have no idea why but most romantic leads in books basically give sultry 'come to bed eyes' like Damon from the vampire diaries series, just with hair colour/eye colour replaced in my head. But the basic bone structure rarely changes. And this book is no exception...

Nirrim can see things others can't, she has learnt to hide this from others so as not to appear different and stand out. Sid has explained there is magic in the 'High Kith', Nirrim knows nothing of this because the 'Half Kith' have no access to history of their world. They remain behind the wall in the 'Ward' their whole life. I knew I loved this book when a scene resembled that of something out of a classic favourite of mine, Jane Eyre....

Sid's character development..... without going into spoiler territory I loved it. I was not expecting it, having gone into this book blind. I will instead leave this picture to sum up my feelings at the end of chapter 16....

If you know, then you know....

This books is amazingly written. I have taken my time reading it, like I haven't in a very long time. Normally I try and just get through a book as fast as possible. But I didn't want to with this one. I could see the pages slipping away and I wanted it to slow down. I found myself in a constant battle of wanted to find of the secrets of the 'Ward' and the 'High Kith' (which I had guess by this point) but always wanting to savor my time in this world with Nirrim and Sid. 

The end of chapter 39, for me seemed very important. I could feel the shift in Nirrim, the spark that will drive into the next book I think at this stage. And I think Sid felt it too.

It seems my guessing about the plot were 100% correct. I don't do spoilers so I won't disclose the guesses at all. But I was right and even though I was right and it seemed to me to be obvious I was not disappointed. I never tend to be disappointed if I guess a plot point early on. I enjoy seeing the journey the characters take to that realisation.

I loved this book, it is 100% on my favorites of the year. I will be anxiously awaiting the next book because that ending was crazy.

Heir of Fire (09/09/18)

So this is the third installment in the Throne of Glass series, following straight on from Crown of Midnight, we pick straight back up with Celeana and how she is still devastated from the loss of her close friend.

This review will have spoilers in, its impossible to talk about a 3^rd series book without them!

So I’ll start with what I thought I wouldn’t like. Rowan. And Celeana.

When I started this book I was completed all about Chaol and Celeana… I probably still am deep down. But I can see something beautiful and different blossoming with Rowan. I feel like Chaol saved Celena in ToG but in HoF it is Celeana/Aelin who saves Rowan. And I think after all that happens in HoF Celeana/Aelin needs to not feel like she has been saved. She needs to be the hero of her own story.

But yes for a good third of the book I could kind of see Chaol being pushed aside and I was not happy about it.

Dorian’s love life filled me with such hope…. Then utterly shattered me. I actually applaud the author for that. To often in these types of books you can see the love interests playing out in a very samey samey kind of way. Not with this one. I am still raw and broken from it. I had to put the book on my lap for a few mins to really absorb what was happening.

I loved the flash backs to Aelin’s past and hope we get to see more of these in future books. I feel the story is becoming very intricate now and has really found its way. I know a lot wont like it because of the changes in direction but realistically for Aelin to get done what is needed, big changes needed to happen and the changes in her in this book to me, seem realistic and purposeful.

I also really enjoyed the character shift to Manon, the Blackbeak Witch. Hers in a very interesting storyline and I look forward to seeing it develop and how it links to Aelin’s story overall. For me this was a good solid read which once I got over the whole Chaol issue, I found I enjoyed immensely and look forward the book number 4!

Crown of Midnight (12/08/18)

So the book picks up a little while after the end of the first book. Celaena assassin, Chaol is still training with Celaena everyday when she is at the castle and not off on business for the king and Dorian is trying to get over Celaena. Lots of action, which is incredibly well written. Lots of intrigue and plot twists and the level of fantasy world building is on point.

I must say I am proper fan-girling over Chaol.  I am so invested in this coupling that I can barely focus on anything else. I like that he is far from perfect. His flaws make him more real, more believable and a lot more interesting. This internal fight he has with himself to realise what it is he really wants.

Honestly this book did me in. I’ve not been able to start the next one properly as I am too devastated by the sheer amazingness of it. It’s everything the first book should have been. The difference in complexity of the story and how well the characters have been development is phenomenal. I have not enjoyed a book this much in a long time.

I wouldn’t change this book. I wouldn’t add anything. Just well done, Sarah J. Maas, new fan here, and that means you will have me for life. Totally invested in all the characters and this new world that has been created. Just so enjoyable.

If you read the first book and weren’t too impressed…. This book is a whole other level! Please give this book a chance, otherwise you will miss out on something truly special.

Throne of Glass (08/08/18)

This book in many ways is a standard love triangle young adult novel. If you found twilight, hunger games or house of night style books tedious. Then don’t bother here. If, however, you are like me, then open up this book for a whole new world of blooming brilliance.
Simple, if interesting concept of a young assassin roped into a be all competition to become the tyrannical kings personal Champion assassin.

I found all the main characters interesting and well rounded. I want to know more about them. Luckily there are more books in this series and I can already tell there are going to be some interesting developments with some characters. The main character Celaena, I liked, a small criticism being we maybe didn’t need telling how beautiful she was every other page. This did become less apparent as the book neared its end. Love interest wise, I surprisingly liked both possibilities. Both Chaol and Dorian were likeable and swoon worthy. Without giving away anything, I have surprised myself at which one I am routing for. I would be lying however if I didn’t admit this changes every now and again.

The character of Nehemia added some depth to Celaena that I feel helped both characters become more interesting and added some nice non love interest drama to the story. Nehemia seems fierce to me and I could see her being such a strong female force in this fantasy world.

There was plenty about this book that should have made it just a YA guilty pleasure. But I feel there are some foundations for this being a blindingly fabulous series and I am just so happy to have started it. I get very into these types of books, I love a good series, but I always worry starting one. Whether it will hold up against all the other books I have read before. And luckily for me this one did. I can already feel myself getting all fan-girly about it. I could also see this being a fabulously epic tv series.

The main criticisms about this book are that the beginning does seem very predictable and a bit slow on any action happening. This young girl is meant to be this fierce, sly and amazing assassin that needs guards at all time. Yet it takes time ¾ of the way through the book for her to have a real fight scene. Plenty of people would have lost interest before that point. Luckily, I didn’t. by the end I had a good feel for what the next books will become. I could feel the writing evolving as it went on. So if your giving this book ago and feel like it’s a bit, meh, please give it till the end to judge it. It may surprise you.

Graceling (25/10/14)

Finally got round to reviewing my most recent read. Graceling is the first book in the Graceling Realm Trilogy, it is also my first experience of Kristin Cashore. I must say that when I started this book I definitely felt like the author had very little imagination, at least in regards to the naming of the Kingdoms (Nander, Estill, Sunder, Wester and Middluns). I literally rolled my eyes at this poor attempt to rename north, south, east, etc. Personally I found it hard to take seriously and nearly made me put the book down. Luckily this is one of the only things that bothered me. The rest of the book, the concept, characters and plot were all really good and I easily found myself routing for the characters.

This is a fantasy world were Gracelings are known by their differently coloured eyes. Their Graces can show themselves in any number of ways some could be graced with cooking skills, numeracy whilst others have graces for fighting. Enter the main character Katsa, who is being used by her Uncle Randa the King of the Middluns. All Gracelings are owned by their kings and are used by them unless their graces are not that important or useful. Katsa is unfortunate that her Grace is exceptional. She is almost unbeatable in a fight, is skilled at archery and sword fighting and can kill a man before he realises what is happening. But Katsa is unwilling to be just a hired hand, used to deal out Randa’s often unfair idea of justice. So she has formed a secret council, a network of people who aim to help those who cannot help themselves and deal out a better form of justice where they can. All under the noses of the kings from all the kingdoms. It is on one of these very missions that Katsa rescues a Lienid, Prince Tealiff, and runs into another Graceling with exceptional skills. After knocking him out, and leaving him at the castle she has rescued Prince Tealiff from Katsa is surprised when he turns up at her home and turns out to be Prince Tealiffs grandson, known to everyone as Po. After the Po tree of lienid whose leaves grown silver and gold to match Prince Po’s eyes. Together to two embark on a mission which changes who Katsa believes she can be.

I completely loved the character of Po. Personally, I wish the author didn’t have so much against marriage, because I just feel like their love story was lacking something. Some sort of final closure, especially since I have found out these characters are not even to be used in the other books. I loved the way Po was able to bring out the best in Katsa and but I would have liked to have seen more of Po developing from Katsa influence. Because she most definitely had an influence on him. This is a very fine YA fantasy with the only negative being some odd and awkward naming of places and characters was a very enjoyable read. The views of the author on marriage and women’s independence does come through pretty strongly, with no wavering of the opinion. This for me was too strong for the story, I am not saying it needed to turn into an all mighty lovey dovey fest, but, there may have been some value in creating a symbiotic relationship were they are both equal in the relationship and committed without getting married. It sort of felt, if not said, that one day she would just pack up and move on and he needed to be ready to except that. Taken at face value I did enjoy this book just felt some of the themes came on a little strong for my liking.

After Before (20/10/14)

I received After Before, a while ago as a first reads book. I started it a while ago, but have recently repacked it up and became completely engrossed by it. The pause in reading this book was not based on how engaging I found this book. But rather I was focused on other books I was reading. Once I dedicated my time to this book however, I couldn’t stop. When I wasn’t reading it I was thinking out it, and actually about a point of history I didn’t know about, or at least didn’t know a lot about.

The book focuses on three women, who through chance are pulled into each others lives. There is Vera, newly engaged and newly discovering her faith in god. Her fiancé Luke, a devote Christian is helping her to change her life for the better, to move forward and overcome her past. But there is so much more to her past than she has told Luke and she finds it impossible to move on and become better while she still hold onto these secrets.  Luke is Vera’s link to Lynn, his mother, who has found out she has terminal cancer and has to relinquish her control on the life. As she comes to terms with her illness and what will be her untimely death she relives elements of her life that she resents and was unable to achieve because of the choices she made. Vera tries to help care for Lynn, but the two cannot come to terms with each other and so Emily, originally from Rwanda, is brought in to care for Lynn. Emily is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, and has not come to terms with all that she has seen, or what was done to her. She drifts through her life never wanting to remember her past but forever at its whim. The story flits back and forth through the present and the past for each of the three women. All with different stories but all in pain and unable to let go.

I found Emily’s story the most interesting, I could have read a book just about her and how she learns to deal with the horrible event that has overtaken her life. Her flash backs are so well written, graphic in places, but dignified to the history that these people have to live with. We hear a lot about the injustice and the horror of the holocaust, which happened in the Second World War. But learning about the Rwandan Genocide through Emily’s 12 year old eyes really touched me. I could feel the fear building, know what was to happen but having to control over it. Knowing that the people who were yesterday your friends are no longer that.

This is a brilliantly written book about forgiveness. That without forgiveness, whether that is for yourself, through god, or for other people, that you will not be able to move on and truly live. Would highly recommend it is however not a light-hearted or emotionally easy read.

The Woodcutter (25/09/14)

What would happen if you tried to put as many fairy-tale characters and plots into one book? Wouldn’t everything get a bit confusing? Wouldn’t you only be able to take snippets of these fairy-tale to try and work them into a bigger plot line? Well that’s pretty much what happens in The Woodcutter.

The Woodcutter, is a retelling of a number of fairy-tale through a many story line revealing around ’The Woodcutter’. A man, one with the trees and the wood in which he lives, setting off on a journey to protect and serve his forest. Along the way he discovers the fae are being captured, princesses are being murdered and generally happy ever afters are being ruined. He must use his wits and his Axes to fight off the evils and right the wrongs he comes across.

When I read the blurb for this book, it seemed like my cup of tea completely. I love retellings of fairy tales such as Fables and the TV series Once upon a time. So I go into these types of things knowing things are not going to be exactly like the fairy tales I knew as a child. That’s what I love about them. But with this book, well, I can’t say that I wasn’t disappoints to begin with. I felt like so much more could have been done with it. 

It does pick up and the last 40% of the book was really quite good and really came together and gave me some ‘wow’ type moments. But even then I felt I could put it down at any point to make a cup of tea, and in reality when I get to the last half of a book I should be glued to it, as if I can’t honestly wait a couple of minutes to make my tea and not be reading the book. Overall, a pretty average read, but mostly I felt it could have been given more depth and back story. There were so many times something was brought up and I would think, ‘wow that would be a brilliant place for a flash back’. Due to the lack of back story and depth it was difficult to really warm to the main character until pretty late in the book.