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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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.

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.

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco (05/04/2020)

So I received this book as an ARC in my December Fairyloot book subscription box.

As the release date wasn't until March 2020, I hadn't really seen or heard anything about this book to know if I wanted to read it or not. After reading the summary, I was pleasently optimistic. It was put across as a kind of Snow Queen re-telling.

This made me very interested!



 I'm not sure anyone I have ever met has seen the cartoon I had on video as a child, but it was 'The Snow Queen' and I loved it so much. It was really dark and absure, likely made from one of those cheap animation studios, but none the less I loved the story of Gerda venturing off on a perilous journey to save her childhood friend Kay.

After a bit of digging on google it turns out the version I loved was the 1957 version of the story.... animated in Soviet Russia....

I'm not overly surprised. As I was primarily raised by my grandparents so tended to end up watching random old films.


 Anyway, this film gave me a good understadning of the orginal story, so long story short, I had high hope for this book.

I like the orginal story, I have liked many other re-tellings, and this book seems to have lots of other fairytales woven into it.

So far so good.

And don't get me wrong, I ended up in the long run enjoying this story. BUT....

The beginning was so confusing and I didn't really see the point in the main character having Philippine heritage. I know, I know... it's likely to be an unpopular opinion but I found it made the world building really confusing. The world was like the 'real' world. Some countries the same and not much changed about them other than the addition of a magic system... But then there was random 'mythical' countries all over the place. The book didn't have map which made it really hard to place things, I ended up spending a lot on time confused about where the hell everything was in connection to countries I knew.

The other confusing bit was there were so many characters introduced so early, that didn't really have actual parts. But they kept talking. I had to re-read so many pages because I just had no idea who was saying what, or who they were talking to. It was very slow starting book which I actually started reading way back in February. I could not get past the first hundred pages easily. A couple of times I was close to DNFing it.

However, I pushed through it and really knuckled down to get it done this month and I am glad I did. I'm not saying it was the best fantasy re-telling, by a long shot. It is such a shame the last 50% of the book was actually paced well and had interesting character development. I particularity likes the 'Banders', the group selected by the Cheshire Cat (yes from Alice in Wonderland) to assist getting the Lost Prince of Avalon, our heroines best friend, Alex, back to his sealed off Kingdom of Avalon. I liked those characters much more initially than I did Tala and Alex the 'main characters'.

There was a tiny element of romance, but it seemed thrown in and not a main plot point in this book. This is the start of a series. Will I continue?

I would have liked to give the ending of this book a better rating but the slow start really pulled it down. It was nearly a 2* book, had the ending and character development not picked up.

Locke & Key Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe HIll (02/04/20)

I thoroughly enjoyed this first volume in the Locke & Key series. I have been a big fan of Joe Hill's work for a long time. I first read a Joe Hill book back when I was about 13 and it was Heart Shaped Box. I loved how dark and at point actually scary his writing was. I am as of yet, to read something by Hill that I don't like.

I was curious to see how his writing style transferred to graphic novel. I wasn't worried, his dark writing would suit graphic novels perfectly with the right art work. Gabriel Rodriguez pulls it off brilliantly. I love the clean lines and bold colours. I was genuinely enraptured with the whole thing. It was an excellent introduction the the main characters and I honestly can't wait to continue.

The only downside I had was i read my copy on my phone as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I would love to have these volumes in real life so i could spend longer enjoying the art work.

This book basically introduces us to the 3 Locke children and how they are dealing with the aftermath of their father being shot and murdered, and then the murderer coming after them. Each child deals with the grief in very different ways. Ty the oldest and arguably with the most trauma is seen not coping well and blaming himself for his fathers murder. His sister Kinsey used to and out there rocker but after her father dies, just wants to fit in, so in fact de-individualises herself which is a really interesting look into how teenagers try to get attention. And finally, Bode the youngest seeks escape from reality and finds it in their new home the 'Keyhouse'.

It is very gory, and gruesome so not one for younger teens to read and I have yet to start watching the Netflix show but I can already see this series as a whole becoming a firm favorite!







This book hit everything I really like in book/graphic novel so gets a solid 4****.

I would have given it 5 stars but I want some room to see how the rest of the series goes and to be able to have so distinction in my appreciation.

The Captive Prince Series - C.S. Pacat (01/01/20)

This review will pretty much encompass all three books in this series; however it will contain no plot spoilers. It seems to be based in some kinds of ‘Roman’ based fantasy realm. The story itself is based surrounding a Prince called Damon and his journey to escape his enslavement to the Crown Prince of a rival nation, named Laurent. The books contain very strong themes and imagery throughout which may be a trigger for some people. This may not be a book for everyone. It is almost solely M/M for its ‘romantic’ scenes.

I overall found the book to be very enjoyable and quickly became invested in the characters. The book overall seems very character driven, which is why I think the pace was fast for the most part. I managed to read all three of these books in weekend (including a 30-page novella as I just had to have more). I particularly enjoyed the character development in the series. In the first book you become invested in Damon and how he just wants to get home. He is still grieving the loss of his father and the betrayal of those closest to him, which is how he has ended up as a pleasure slave. The second book looks at the changing dynamic between the two princes and the third pulls everything to a dramatic close. I love the conflicted emotions of the Princes. Damon goes from having an opinion of the Crown prince like this;

“A golden prince was easy to love if you did not have to watch him picking wings off flies”

 

Honestly, I did not see how a romantic relationship would form as the initial interactions between Damon and Laurent are awful. As you would expect an entitled prince to treat a pleasure slave. But some scenes are brutal and you wonder how they will see past them. But by the time you get to the second book, something has shifted. Some small glimpse of Laurent’s true character have been seen by Damon.

“Damon said, with helpless honesty, “ Laurent, I am your slave.””

And one of my favorite quotes is the following,

“A kingdom, or this.”

By the third book there is so much tension and angst between them I devoured the book in now time what so ever. I just needed to know how this would end for them both…

“I think if I gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly.”

“Don’t, toy with me. I – have not the means to – defend myself against this.”

I would recommend this book if you want to read a vivid M/M book with strong character building. Overall I gave the first book a 3* rating and the 2^nd, 3^rd book and novella all received a solid 4* rating. There were some areas that I feel could have been looked into more deeply, however it did not detract from the overall story.

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!