I am not really into the pirate genre...or books about ships...or YA fantasy as much lately, if I'm truly honest...and yet someth3.25 YA Fantasy Stars
I am not really into the pirate genre...or books about ships...or YA fantasy as much lately, if I'm truly honest...and yet something about this blurb intrigued me when I got my Book of the Month picks for February.
I told myself I could only buy more YA books if I read any new ones right away and started to make some headway with the scores already completely littering my shelves. So here we are.
I thought this was a really solid start to a new YA fantasy series. I trudged through the first part a bit (I think the first 50% took me over a week to read), but that's typical of first-in-series fantasy books where the author is busy building worlds and magic systems, etc. Things really started to pick up once I hit the halfway point though and I ended up finished it in one sitting.
I really liked the magic systems used here. I wouldn't say they are wholly original or mind-blowing by any means, but they also didn't feel like complete carbon copies of all the other fantasy systems out there. I especially enjoyed the darker nature of Amora's magic. Because blood and stabby-ness always make this girl's day.
There were some minor twists that I saw coming and some that were mildly surprising. I do wish some of the characters has been a little more developed. But all in all, a really solid start and I will be picking up book two whenever it comes out....more
I love the Arthurian Legend and snagged this immediately when I saw it as a Book if the Month YA choice. I was really excited at the thoug2 Stars
Sigh.
I love the Arthurian Legend and snagged this immediately when I saw it as a Book if the Month YA choice. I was really excited at the thought of Guinevere having magical powers and being sent to protect Arthur for once instead of simply being the damsel in a distressful love triangle.
And while I do appreciate the effort made here to make female characters strong and with agency...I felt the Feminist underpinnings and what seems to be the constant need for “representation” in every book these days (while appreciated) overwhelmed everything else. And the story suffered for it.
The characters are all quite bland, especially Arthur. And, we are kept in the dark regarding many details for far too long. I became bored waiting for something to happen. We spend the vast majority of the book watching Guinevere flail aimlessly about, seemingly without any true purpose. When something finally does happen, I found myself not really caring.
I was also kind of disappointed in the magical elements of the story. I guess I just expected...more....more
I'm kind of torn on what I want to rate this and how I want to review it. On one hand, I definitely found myself flying through the pages and b2 Stars
I'm kind of torn on what I want to rate this and how I want to review it. On one hand, I definitely found myself flying through the pages and being very interested in how things would play out...but on the other hand, I was also left with this feeling of unfulfilled satisfaction the whole time I was reading it.
But let's back up a little bit.
When I learned about this book, I was excited. This was my first Ahdieh book (although I have a couple of hers sitting on my shelf waiting to be read) and I have heard nothing but good things about her writing. Also, vampires in 19th century New Orleans...very Anne Rice and all that jazz.
I think a lot of people of a certain age (aka those who were teens when Twilight came out) have this erroneous belief that Twilight was the first big vampire book series to ever hit the stands. However, vamp stories have been around forEVER.
During my teenage years, it was Anne Rice, Christopher Pike, Christine Feehan...adult, YA (before it was really called that), and romance...all there for the devouring. And devour I did.
Did I read and enjoy Twilight too when it came out? Sure. But one of the unfortunate effects of the success of Twilight was the sudden over-saturation of the reading world of all things vampiric. Suddenly, everyone wanted to write about vampires. Especially romance and YA authors. Everyone wanted to be the next Stephanie Meyer in much the same way that so many have tried to replicate the success of Harry Potter.
And, after any period of TOO much of anything, the pendulum always swings the other way. Meaning, it suddenly felt like authors were avoiding the vampire trope like the plague. And all we readers got to cleanse our palette a bit.
So when this book was announced, it kind of felt like it represented the next coming of solid vamp stories, I suppose. Or maybe all of that is just my opinion and completely baseless. Either way, I was really looking forward to reading this and even joined the Book of the Month YA box so I could get this thing for a $9.99 steal.
And all I can say is...
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The New Orleans backdrop was somewhat well done, although there was also a lot of French that never gets translated for the reader. Also, the world-building left a lot to be desired. There is the Court of Lions, something called the Brotherhood, and another group called The Fallen...none of which truly ever get explained, even at the end.
None of the characters are fully fleshed out and the main romance is like a tree with pretty leaves - but no actual root system.
Much like the writing. It's like Ahdieh is trying for purple prose (which I loathe by the way) but merely succeeds in sprinkling overwrought metaphors and similes that stand out like sore thumbs throughout a book already plagued by too many flowery scene descriptions (that don't actually describe much, by the way) and really poor character building.
But most of all, I just didn't like Celine, our main character. I think she was supposed to come across as a sassy, strong woman who just wanted respect and equality as a female...but for me she merely came across as a whiny brat who bemoaned the horror and unfairness of being treated as a beautiful piece of meat with no brain (edited: and no I am obviously not talking about the attempted sexual assault she suffered here, snowflakes, I am talking about other references)...but would then turn around and try to use said beauty and wiles to get her way. It felt hypocritical and I didn't like or respect her as a result.
In general, I just thought many things about this story were murky and convoluted. The world-building, the characters, their motivations...everything. You can definitely tell this is all meant to unfold over the course of a series. And Ahdieh seemingly wrote this in such a way as to hold enough back to keep us coming back for more. In my opinion, she just simply held back a little too much....more
I picked this up because I saw it being touted in some places around GR and booktube as a "racy" YA romance that was (perhaps) edgy enough fo3.5 Stars
I picked this up because I saw it being touted in some places around GR and booktube as a "racy" YA romance that was (perhaps) edgy enough for some people to feel it should have been classified more as New Adult a la ACOTAR.
And because I had a Barnes and Noble gift card burning a hole in my pocket. So I picked up this and Ninth House. And perhaps a couple other things.
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It also felt very season appropriate to read about witches and buy black books with snakes on the covers. Very Halloween/October of me, no?
But I digress.
As I was saying, I picked this up because I love me some racy. And because I also loved the premise of a witch marrying what amounts to a witch hunter.
And while I will say this book definitely had more swearing, "racy" language (for a YA), and a somewhat lukewarm sex scene, it didn't feel like anything I hadn't read before...but keep in mind, I'm also very forgetful these days. And not the target audience here. So take that as you will.
Regardless.
I thought the story itself was solidly entertaining, although nothing super extraordinary. The pacing was good and the world-building was decent. I will say that some of the characters felt slightly two-dimensional at times.
Most notably though, the relationship between Lou and Reid felt very groundless to me. They went from meeting and hating each other...to spending a week basically occupying the same room whilst doing their best to ignore each other...to being in love and boinking within a very short time period. It felt very sudden and shallow and I think Mahurin could have done a better job at laying the groundwork for their romance - and thus what amounts to the main focal point of this book.
Their "love" just didn't feel like it was palpable enough for me to believe that either one would feel the way they supposedly did during the events that occurred toward the end of the book.
Keeping in mind this is a debut series by a debut author, however, I have a good feeling about the potential for the next book in the series. This was definitely a strong debut and I look forward to more from this author....more
I don't usually rate books I DNF unless I make it to 50%, but this book has me bitter...even though it's pretty much my fault. Still. I got dDNF @ 37%
I don't usually rate books I DNF unless I make it to 50%, but this book has me bitter...even though it's pretty much my fault. Still. I got drawn into the hype and pretty cover and so, I bought not only this book in hardcover...but also books two and three...Because IDIOT. Regardless, you can imagine how much I wanted to love and persevere through this thing and its successors.
But alas, as much as I loathe wasting money, I just can't force myself to pick this book up anymore.
It basically reads like every other YA fantasy romance you've ever read before, except SHITTY. I have read (and rated highly) many a cliched YA in my time, but this one just isn't cutting the mustard. The writing is blah, the characters are wooden and one-dimensional, and the magic system is non-existent.
The only silver lining here is that I get to pare down my physical tbr by three books, albeit not via the avenue I would prefer. Thankfully though, I have since trained myself to stop buying entire series at once without first reading and loving book one. I still have a few unread series on my shelves which were purchased before said training took place, but hopefully I have better luck with those.
This started off really strong for me, but sadly, fell apart from middle to end.
I feel like we got nowhere in this book. In fact, instead of getting This started off really strong for me, but sadly, fell apart from middle to end.
I feel like we got nowhere in this book. In fact, instead of getting any answers for pretty much anything, I feel like we were left with even more questions. The characters all seemed to be scrambling around in their own individual quests for...something. The purpose is never truly clear.
Overall, I felt like this book lacked cohesiveness and the potential for stellar world-building that was hinted at in book one never came to fruition here. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series. ...more
What would have been 5 stars...I now leave at merely 3...
I ADORED book one. And, being that for years now I have heard nothing but how book two was evWhat would have been 5 stars...I now leave at merely 3...
I ADORED book one. And, being that for years now I have heard nothing but how book two was even better and so supposedly beyond amazing, I was fully expecting to adore this one too.
And, welp...
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I wish I could say the story fell apart and slogged along or that I was bored. But again...
Nope.
The plot here was just as rousing as the first book, I loved the characters, etcetera, etcetera...
So why am I not rating it 5 stars you ask?
***spoiler alert***
Because, folks, I am BITTER.
I am bitter that Bardugo, for whatever ill-advised reason, decided she would try to be George R. Martin and kill off a main character. And, unlike GRR, it just didn't fit. It served the story in NO way. In fact, it was SO beyond random that it felt like it was added on later. Truly though, it was so utterly senseless that I just couldn't even believe it happened after I read it and saw no "just kidding" footnote at the bottom of the page.
And, quite frankly, it just took the wind right out of my Love For This Series Sails.
I felt like Bardugo betrayed the reader, her characters, and the series as a whole.
And to anyone who says, "But Val, it's completely unrealistic for ALL of the crew to have lived through it all," I say I DON'T CARE. I don't read Young Adult FANTASY for the "realism" of it.
In addition to that, I also felt like Kaz wasn't as magnetic in this book as he was in the first book. The team didn't feel as "team-like" as it did in the first book. And I just wasn't happy with the way the whole thing ended. It felt kind of abrupt and unfinished and I felt like the characters were all left unmoored instead of bound together, especially poor Nina.
Last night I got a bee up my ass and decided to count and see how many unread physical books I have on my home library shelves...and l3.25 - 3.5 Stars
Last night I got a bee up my ass and decided to count and see how many unread physical books I have on my home library shelves...and let’s just say the number was pretty shameful.
Thus, I decided it was time to cull the herd. So decided I would try the cliched booktube trend of reading first chapters of books that have been on my shelves awhile...unhauling anything that didn’t at least mildly capture my attention.
This book has been on my shelves the longest, so I grabbed it and figured I’d read one chapter and set it aside in the donate pile...342 pages later, I can proudly say I unhauled one fucking book. But it’s now a "read" book. So nanner nanner nanner.
I really enjoyed certain elements of this story and was (obviously) drawn in from the very first page. I thought the ending got a little dicey as far as plot details and general continuity is concerned...And I feel like the romance/love was never truly cemented enough for my tastes...but all in all a decent story I’m glad I read...
If only so I can say I read a book from my shelves I had started to think I never would get to. A truly satisfying feeling....more
That best describes this reading experience for me, which was a huge bummer.
Someone I follow gushed about this book aMiddle of the road middle grade.
That best describes this reading experience for me, which was a huge bummer.
Someone I follow gushed about this book and how "magical" it was...and it just didn't live up to those expectations for me, sadly.
In fact, this read like a book that was trying too hard to be the next big movie franchise. A lot of the elements of the book felt very choppy and very clearly borrowed from other huge blockbusters, i.e., Harry Potter (obviously), The Hunger Games, Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz, to name just a few.
Full disclosure, though: the fact that I read this on the heels of my FIRST read of Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban (my first read of the HP series ever in general) probably didn't help matters any.
All that said, while the story didn't blow me away, I DID enjoy it well enough. The main character, Morrigan, read pretty flat for me this go-round; but, I really liked Jupiter North and Hawthorne Swift and I will still read the next one to find out what happens.
And who knows, maybe I will like this better upon a second read when I'm prepping for book two....more
My reading has been all over the place lately. I have been reading a lot of adult fantasy, YA fantasy, and just straight up middle grade books.4 Stars
My reading has been all over the place lately. I have been reading a lot of adult fantasy, YA fantasy, and just straight up middle grade books...and very little romance. For whatever reason, that is just what I have felt like reading.
This was a cute, if creepy, little book. It was for me what I expected The Little Prince to be, but alas, wasn't. I really liked Bod and all the characters of the graveyard, especially Silas. I also enjoyed Gaiman's writing style - which is a good thing, since I bought this as part of a four book box set. I look forward to reading the others....more
I can obviously see the similarities to Harry Potter that everyone talks about, but being that I only rThis was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.
I can obviously see the similarities to Harry Potter that everyone talks about, but being that I only read the first book in the HP series in 2017...I didn't really care all that much, quite frankly.
I thought Percy's sarcastic wit made for a great narrator and, as always, I love it when mythology is tied into a story in a way I enjoy.
I actually grabbed this book because I loved the movie.
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And I watched this movie because, yes, I lThis was amazing and I enjoyed it immensely.
I actually grabbed this book because I loved the movie.
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And I watched this movie because, yes, I love anything fantastical and magical...
...but mostly, I watched it because I adore Eva Green…
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God, I love her.
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...and I will literally watch any movie she’s in. Because, as I said…obsessed.
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Isn't she fierce?
Anystalker, after watching the movie – which I don’t even know why I loved so much, I just did – I really wanted to read the book.
Ya’ll know how that goes.
I’ll be honest though, I didn’t expect to like it as much as the movie. So color me surprised when I did. It’s always dicey with movies and books, no?
Most people ALWAYS like the book better; and I usually do too – when I have read the book BEFORE seeing the movie. But, for whatever reason, for me it’s usually a simple matter of which one I ingested first.
If I read the book first, I typically always like the book more. Full stop.
…However, full transparency, I must admit: most of the time, if I saw the movie first, I have no desire to pick up the book so I never manage to read the book, anyway.
In those cases where I HAVE actually grabbed the book post-movie…I typically liked the movie better. Examples of this are The Notebook and A Walk to Remember…so, apparently if it’s a Nicholas Sparks book, I will like the movie better. LOL. Just realizing that now.
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Le sigh.
Anyway, in the case of this movie, I just knew the book would have details the movie didn’t (as is always the case, I know) and I really wanted to know what those details were. Again, full transparency, I actually think seeing the movie first made this book better for me. As I said, I love Eva Green. And I really enjoyed all the other characters and actors from this movie too. So, of course, I was visualizing them as I was reading. Which I really enjoyed.
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The book was very different than the movie in many ways. The characters Emma and Olive had their peculiarity traded for the movie, apparently. In the book, Emma is the walking furnace and Olive is the floater.
As such, the book was obviously missing one of my favorite scenes from the movie:
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There were some other major differences too, one of the most obvious being the appearance of Miss Peregrine herself.
Obviously, she was portrayed differently in the movie than she was in the book:
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But, I don't care. Right or wrong, I was picturing my Eva throughout my reading adventure.
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Now, even though it may seem like it's becoming one, I'm not here to do a compare/contrast essay on the book vs the movie, so I will move on from that.
I really, really enjoyed Ransom Rigg's writing style. Also, even though this is billed as a "children's book," there was a grittiness to it that sets it apart from most books of its kind.
Kind of like Grimm's Red Riding Hood vs Disney's Red Riding Hood.
Creepier, bloodier, and more visceral all around.
I also really enjoyed the pictures that were strategically placed throughout the book.
What a treat to be able to read about characters and then have mysterious pictures of them pop up several pages later.
The coolest part is, in the back of the book, Riggs explains how all the pictures are authentic, vintage photographs (that were only mildly retouched in certain cases to depict a peculiarity) which were part of large vintage collections. Be-YOND cool.
Also, he talks about how the pictures influenced the story and how his background in film influenced his writing.
Pretty MADE to be a movie, no?
Thus, super excited about my next read - before I tackle Hollow City - because I just can't wait:
Well, despite marking this as "currently reading" (I put books there that I plan to read within the next week or two) I finally cracked this bad boy oWell, despite marking this as "currently reading" (I put books there that I plan to read within the next week or two) I finally cracked this bad boy open today...and finished it in one three-hour siting.
So, if that's not an indication of something being a seriously above average read, I don't know what is.
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Jude was a really edgy, imperfect, relatable character and I really liked her.
So often, I want characters to do something - maybe say something or do something I want them to do in a specific moment - and I am left feeling frustrated and annoyed when they don't.
They DON'T deliver the nasty comeback I feel someone so amazingly deserves. They DON'T punch the face of the asshole who has done them wrong. They DON'T say "fuck you" to the person who just betrayed them.
But, Jude?
Home girl DID all of those things and more and I loved it.
She saw that proverbial high road on some occasions, the one other characters sometimes begged her to take and she said:
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Get it, girl.
On top of that, the plot here was pretty well thought out and I enjoyed the twists and turns, none of which felt convenient or trite.
It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with the plot and certain character relationships in the next book.
This was pretty underwhelming, which is a huge bummer, because I really wanted to like it.
A lot of people might compare this at first to ACOTAR becausThis was pretty underwhelming, which is a huge bummer, because I really wanted to like it.
A lot of people might compare this at first to ACOTAR because of the fair folk and their courts, but - surprise! - fairies and their courts are actually longstanding fairy lore that go back centuries. Sarah J. Maas didn't make all that up on her own.
Anyway, as I said, I really wanted to like this, if only for the cover.
But, alas, the world building felt unfinished, the purpose and direction of the story was unclear to the very end, and the characters were a group of bland strangers I never truly got to know.
I love fairy court folklore and had high hopes for this book; however, the only thing that truly impressed me here was the fact that I finished it, which again: bummer, especially since Rogerson has a very fluid and engaging writing style.
As such, despite my lackluster response to this book, I could probably be convinced to attempt another book by her, provided the blurb sounded interesting. And I got it on sale.
In the end, I’m glad this at least has a purty cover, since I have it in hardback via Uppercase. So at least it will look pretty on my shelves if nothing else....more
So, I’m legit four years late reading this - meaning pretty much everyone else already read this ages ago and there are tons of great revAll the Stars
So, I’m legit four years late reading this - meaning pretty much everyone else already read this ages ago and there are tons of great reviews out there - so I'll keep this short.
I’ll just say that this was truly one of the bests books I’ve read in a long time. The plot was like a magical/steampunk/Gangs of New York meets Ocean’s Eleven and the characters were SO magnetic and well-written that I was gripped from page one. Bardugo’s writing, humor, pacing...everything, really, was just so on point. Easily my favorite read of 2019 thus far.
Side note: This actually sat on my shelf for a really long time and I intended to read it years ago, but just never got around to it. Plus, I think I was worried about the hype killing it for me. But, I’m actually happy I’m only reading it now as this has been a year of very few 5-star reads for me and this totally hit the spot for me when I needed it.
SO excited to crack open book two, which everyone says is even better....more
The world-building and character development was pretty rough to start, but things definitely got a little better as the book progressed3 - 3.5 Stars
The world-building and character development was pretty rough to start, but things definitely got a little better as the book progressed...it's all still a little loose for my liking, but this is one of those books where you can really feel the promise of a lot of potential manifesting itself in the next books. I really enjoy the "team effort" trope and this book had that going for it from several different fronts.
I especially enjoyed the focal relationship of the story: the friendship and love between Iseult and Safi. As much as I love romance, it's always refreshing to see the most compelling relationship be a friendship and not the cliched princely love story. I mean, this book does have one of those, but it's not the main focus.
I do think the magic system here is really fragmented in the sense that there are just too many different witch types and witch powers to keep track of...I felt every page introduced either another, before unheard of witch classification or a new way in which the witches we actually already (kind of) knew use their power in yet another new way. It just feels a little messy in the now and promises to be convenient for the author later.
Regardless, I enjoyed the story and felt an affinity for pretty much all the characters (despite them not having all that much true development), especially Iseult and Aeudan. I look forward to more from this series. I know book two isn't rated as highly, but book three is supposedly really solid....more
Like, the Olympic gold medal in the Anti-DNF Games, people.
*Rant Ahead*
It took me three months to finish thI deserve a medal for finishing this book.
Like, the Olympic gold medal in the Anti-DNF Games, people.
*Rant Ahead*
It took me three months to finish this book. THREE. (Not 3, Miss Mafi)
Now, normally, I would have tossed this book out the window like an overwrought Silver Linings Playbook Bradley Cooper, being that I AM the queen of the heartless page 15 DNF; however, I find that I have a harder time DNFing something when I am 1) Reading a physical copy as opposed to a digital copy, and 2) When I already OWN books two and three and am hoping to FUCK I didn't waste my money.
That said, this book annoyed me on several different levels.
1) Juliette's "power" or "glitch" or whatever the hell it is, is never fully explained in detail. It's skirted around in a mass of overwrought metaphors and complete bullshit.
2) Said overwrought metaphors.
3) The writing itself in general.
Despite having a degree in English and Literature, I am usually pretty easygoing about typos and grammar, especially when it comes to self-published stuff.
I mean just LOOK at the slang and vernacular I use in my reviews. I am NOT a hard ass about this stuff.
HOWEVER.
When I am holding a professionally published, FINISHED copy of a mass produced book and it contains strikeouts, sentences starting in lowercase letters, and numbers one through ten incorrectly placed in number form, e.g., "Juliette has 2 hands and 0 1 brain," my inner grammar maven's granny panties get twisted so far up her ass, it's impossible to focus.
I mean, I GET that this was all a stylistic choice, etc. That the sporadic, all over the place, SHITTY sentence structure was supposed to reflect Juliette's instability, or whatever the fuck it was supposed to reflect, but I just can't get behind starting a sentence with "4," my friends.
Add to that the insta-love between Juliette and Adam and the spindly world-building of a completely unclear and poorly wrought dystopian society and you have a wreck of a book that merely has a pretty cover.
Now I am left with the crushing decision of whether or not I try book two (since I, like an idiot, already bought it) or if I just march the whole trilogy down to my favorite used book store and hope the fact that this series is about to have a new book published gets me top dollar.
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️
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Books:
fantasy-young-adult
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