Nichole
This book had so much potential but fell flat for me. Lately, I have really been in the mood for diverse books with a wide array of characters. This book focuses on Sal who is this amazingly strong, independent person. They also happen to be gender-fluid. For me this was the strongest part of the book. Linsey Smith does an incredible job of making sure Sal's pronouns are not they only part of their character. They are not their gender or lack thereof. I really appreciated that the focus was on the competition rather than the character.
That being said, I really struggled with the writing in this book. I love being able to visualize the worlds I'm reading about and place myself right by the characters as they go on their journey. However, I really struggled to do that with this book. The world building was severely lacking and even simple details and descriptions were lacking. Now the character descriptions could have been intentional to add to the idea that gender does not define a person. I just personally struggled without the descriptions I'm used to in various books.
As for the actual plot, I really enjoyed the idea of the competition to become the Queen's assassin. It was a great idea, but for me the execution was lacking. There were many parts that were predictable to me and again the visualization problems made it hard for me to really involve myself in the story and immerse myself in the world.
This book had the right idea, the execution just did not work for me. I'm sure they will be other people that love this book, I just could not get past the writing.
I was really hesitant about this book when I got it initially. But I went to a signing with MacKenzi Lee and the more she talked about the book and her writing process the more intrigued I became. The idea of reading about two friends and a sister on a journey around Europe in the 18th century is not at all appealing to me. But this book is so much more than that.
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is about two best friends coming to terms with their feelings for each other, a sister figuring out how she is going to live her life, throw in a bunch of drunken endeavors, some streaking, and pirates and you have this fantastic book.
I was never bored reading this book, between Monty's antics and the adventure of the tour there was always something moving the plot along. Mackenzi Lee did a fantastic job adding her own spin to the Grand Tours of the 18th century. From the signing, I know she spent a lot of time researching and reading journals from English adolescents during their Tours and she used this information to augment the adventure Monty, Percy, and Felicity embark on.
Our trio of characters are fantastically well written and each are so unique but also work so well together even when they are fighting. While this is definitely Monty's story, Percy and Felicity still play a large role throughout the book and it was so easy to fall in love with these characters and want them happy at the end. There were times when I wanted to slap Percy or Monty across the head for some of the stupid choices they were making, and let me be honest, I'm mostly talking about Monty because that boy can be absolutely ridiculous sometimes. I also appreciated how his character grew throughout the book, but he was still very much him at the end too.
I'm sure the genre of Historical Fiction will turn many away from this book, but hopefully the cover and the summary will help reluctant readers pick it up and fall in love with this characters like I did. I cannot wait to read Felicity's story next in The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. Hopefully we see more Percy and Monty in there too, but also more pirates!
I loved the writing, the world, the characters, the story, the concept, the unknown. This was such a fantastic read. I'm really glad I took mt time reading this to really immerse myself in the world and the character's journey. Patrick Rothfuss has an amazing way with words and I cannot wait to reread this book to see what I missed during my first read.
I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing. I had read the summary before requesting the ARC and was interested at the time but never reread it before picking up the book. The book started off right in the action with Sofi and her brother, Shilo battling against other kids in a tournament involving survival as well as virtual reality and coding. At the beginning I was getting huge Hunger Games vibes which I really did not enjoy. But luckily the tournament portion of the book was brief.
We then are left with Sofi on this journey to save Shilo. But to save him she must first find him. This book was nonstop action and adventure which I really enjoyed. Mary Weber is an excellent action scene writer and I always felt like I was in the thick of everything as Sofi searches for clues.
The big issue I had with this book was the worldbuilding. We are thrown right into the action with little background on the tournament or these characters and what they have gone through. We do get some information in roundabout ways about the characters and their situations but it was not at all enough for me. I even felt like the aliens were poorly explained and developed. I know they were humanoid but larger but that tells me nothing about them as a species. The book also mentioned things and technology the aliens gave to help Earth but with little explanation or understanding of what the true relationship between the two species is.
While this is more than one book and there is definitely time for further explanation, I think this book would have benefited from better worldbuilding before jumping into the action of the story. This book also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger one that did not phase me. I did not become attached to these characters so I was in no way shocked by the ending nor do I feel like the wait for the next book will be far too long. Overall, this was a good book, I just could not overlook the lack of worldbuilding and setting up the story and the characters. If you can overlook that, then I'm sure you will really enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the book
4.5 Stars
This book was an incredibly adorably dorky book that thrilled me in so many ways. I always love reading a contemporary book after I've immersed myself in so many fantasy and science fiction worlds. This book was even better because I got to immerse myself in Dimple and Rishi's adorkable romance. There were so many moments in this book that were so cheesy, I could not help but love them. Take for example our love birds first meeting involves one of them telling the other that they are their future husband/bride. It was so unbelievable but also so perfect for these characters.
I have two minor complaints with this book. First, these characters were supposed to be at a tech summer conference designing an app. But we got little to no insight into their 6-week project. To me it left that part of the story flat. I was expecting to have more technical references and more insight into the planning and designing phases of their app development. Second and this one is super minor but I think a glossary would have been helpful to differentiate some of the more common Hindi phrases throughout the book. Especially the names for various family members. There were times I had to read a sentence a few times to get what was said or who something was referring and I think a glossary would have been helpful.
Overall this was a fantastic read and I cannot wait to see what else Sandhya Menon writes in the future!
3.75 Stars
I'm really struggling with this one. On the one hand, I really care for these characters. I love reading about them and their lives. On the other hand this book was major filler and seemed disjointed at times. Truthwitch was this amazing story of “soul-sisters” on a mission together and there were a few other characters around them for the journey. Windwitch obviously focuses on Merik since he is a windwitch, but we still had POVs of Safi, Iseult, Aeduan, and Merik. Susan Dennard even added a fifth POV with Vivia. I think this is where the disjointedness came from. You have 5 different POVs that are all separate with very little interaction between the various POVs. This means you are sometimes waiting 20+ pages before you are back to a specific character's story.
The pacing for this book was also off for me. Truthwitch was so action-packed and exciting, but I feel like Windwitch ended much the same as Truthwitch did in terms of where we stand for end series. In terms of plot through I do see where Susan Dennard took the time to set things up for future books, I just wish we had had some kind of closure or small plot to tie up in this book to keep in moving forward.
The writing style and the characters continued to be as expected and there was some character development with a few characters, I just wish we had had more. Even though I'm disappointed with this installment, I cannot wait for Bloodwitch especially because it sounds like it will be an Aeduan-centric book!
I've waited to write this review to give myself time to digest the story and really decided what my thoughts were. Hopefully I'm able to accurately portray them now. Going into this book I had a whole lot of expectations. The two most prominent were the writing style and the retelling aspect. Renee Ahdieh has a unique writing style that was apparent in [b:The Wrath & the Dawn 18798983 The Wrath & the Dawn (The Wrath & the Dawn, #1) Renee Ahdieh https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417956963s/18798983.jpg 26724902]. If you remember, I had a slight problem with what I would call her obsession with describing eyes of the characters. Now this book did not have the problem for me (now it is very possible it was still there, I just did not notice it with this book). As for the retelling, this was touted as a Mulan retelling. Now Mulan is my favorite Disney movie, both now and growing up, and I did not want to be disappointed with this book. Spoiler: I was not. As for the actual book it was incredibly enjoyable and I loved the pace and how the story progressed. I never felt like we were spending too much time going through backstory or world building. I loved watching Mariko's views on her family, the empire, and the Black Clan change and evolve and she learned more and became more independent. We got to see her grow as a person both physically as well as growing in her understanding of why people do some of the things they do and the motivation behind every person's actions and choices. For me the strength of this book was its characters. I loved Mariko and her band of “friends”. They each had a vital part to play in her journey through the forest as well as her personal journey learning who she truly is. The banter between Mariko, Okami, and Ranmaru was spot on and I loved how they relationships all came to fruition and we learned why past decisions had been made.That being said, this book left so many unanswered questions, is struggle to see how this can all be answered in only one more book. But I'm sure Renee has something up her sleeve. I cannot wait to see what happens with Mariko and the Black Clan going forward and how her family reacts to the decisions she made in this book.
This book took me forever to read and that is mostly because I wanted to take the time to savor this amazing story. Laini Taylor did not disappoint with this new series. I loved this world and the characters. It took a bit to get into this story and you do not meet the other main character until over 100 pages into the book. But once you meet them and their separate stories start to converge, you really get invested into the story.
Laini Taylor is beyond talented when it comes to writing. Her style is very poetic and it is so easy to place yourself in the world and experience what the characters are experiencing. The way this book ended has me ready for The Muse of Nightmares right away and I hate that I have to wait another year.
This was an adorable quick contemporary read that brought the idea of fandom and how ingrained it can be in your life to the forefront of the story. This book was like Fangirl for me, I saw myself in Elle and I was able to really connect with this character whose life has been utterly shaped by Starfield and the fandom surrounding it.
The book was completely predictable, but it is a Cinderella retelling so what do you expect? But there were still subtle differences Poston added to her story that made Geekerella unique.
The premise of this book alone should intrigue you. You have a human fighter pilot and a human-like mech working together to save the universe. I absolutely loved how Noemi and Abel's story unfolded. The progression of their relationship was extremely well done. They went from two people who had to work together due to programming to something much more. It was a really interesting dynamic between the two and I appreciated seeing a relationship grow between two unlikely characters. I also really appreciated that one of the two main characters was not entirely human (it reminded me of AIDAN from the Illuminae Files, if only he had a more prominent role).
That being said, the world was confusing at times. I'm not sure if there will be a map in the finished copy since I read an eARC, but I would have really liked to see something to show all the different planets that Noemi and Abel explore on their adventure through space. I think the book would have benefited from a bit more background on what was going on between Earth and Genesis. I got the overall big picture but I would have loved more specific details and knowledge about what happened in the past.
The ending of this book was also quite odd. There are definitely a few big questions that still need answered, but at the same time I feel like the story is complete. I'm really confused on how Claudia Gray is continuing with the next book after this. This is a planned duology so she obviously has more story to tell, I just do not see the need with how the arc of this book panned out.
Last thing I want to mention is how great so many of the secondary characters were in this book. Noemi and Abel met a lot of unique people on their adventure from many different backgrounds with different life stories. I loved getting to know these characters and how they impacted the story and helped our two main characters one their journey. I really hope we get to see more of them in the next book.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of the book
One spoiler comment, I feel like it was completely unnecessary "character development" to kill off Noemi's one and only friend at the beginning of the book. This death was constructed as the reason Noemi had the motivation to go through with working with a Mech to destroy the gate. I just did not like using the death of the only friend someone has as the driving force for their actions.
4.5 Stars
Initial Thoughts: My only complaint with this book was that the end was a little rushed and it was much too short. I would have loved to spend more time in Yeva and the Beast's world. This was a fantastic Beauty and the Beast retelling and I love that I was able to read it at the same time as the live action film came out. It was very rewarding to experience two different takes on the classic story in such a short time period.
This was a really interesting mix of southern charm with paranormal aspects. Rachel Hawkins did a really good job of blending the paranormal with the “contemporary” feel of Harper's life. I have to say the ending was super cliche and I'm not sure I'm ready for the trilogy to continue with the current paranormal gang working together.
Seriously, the trio being David, Harper, and Ryan. Boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, and girl working together. That is just asking for unnecessary drama.
This was a difficult book for me. It had many positive aspects but many negative ones as well. I'm going to start with the negative, then move to the positive to end on a good note.
First off, the writing seemed all over the place to me. I really struggled to place myself in the story and the character's world and this was largely due to the writing style not matching the story. It is hard to explain but I do not think the writing was consistent with the depth of the story and the world if that makes sense. That being said, the writing quality did improve as the book went on and that was nice to see. On top of the lackluster writing, the plot was lacking the action typical of this genre that gets me into the book and hooked on the story. The plot was interesting sure, but I was not that invested in what was going to happen. And the way this book ended I have no idea how there are going to be two more books in this series. With a chapter or two more, this book could have tied everything up and been a fine standalone fantasy novel. The epilogue left a little bit open as to when the consequences of the end of the book are but not enough that I'm dying to read the next installment. One final thing I want to mention is something that conspired between two characters that really bothered me. We have multiple instances of distant cousins kissing, while this take place in the 1800s and that may be something that was more normal back then, it still left me uncomfortable every time it happened. These characters are most likely not endgame for Rosalyn Eves, but I still do not think it was necessary to the story.
As for the positive aspects of this book, the magic system is by far the best part of this book. We have this fascinating magic system that I really wish we had more backstory and information about. There definitely was not enough world building done to fully explain the magic system and how the binding worked and how things were before the Circle. But this idea of a magic reservoir that people dip into when they go to cast a spell is unique and I even enjoyed the little bit of information we got about the different castes within the magic system. There are a lot of different powers that I wish we had gotten to delve further into. Maybe that will happen in subsequent books but not sure based on how this one ended. I'm not sure I will continue with this series, I may pick up subsequent books but I have no need to do so as I do with other first books in series.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book!
3.5 Stars
This book was really hard to pick a rating for. I really enjoyed it and loved how historically accurate it is even if Kerri Maniscalco took some liberties to make the history fit will her story. But at the same time the beginning was incredibly slow and I really struggled to get into the story and really care about the characters. It honestly took almost half the book for that to happen which is never a good sign especially in a book just over 300 pages. I think Kerri's writing grew stronger as the book went on and I will definitely be continuing on with the series and following Audrey Rose and Thomas's stories as they solve more mysteries.
The Song Rising is the third book in Samantha Shannon's epic seven part fantasy about Paige Mahoney and Scion. This series has quickly become one of my favorites right up there with Harry Potter. There is just so much attention to detail and vastness to the world that I love putting myself in the story and watching the story unfold. It also has such an intriguing “magic” system with the different orders of Clairvoyants and I love learning more about them as we delve deeper into this world.
Samantha has always said Book 3 was the end of one arc of Paige's story and this book would set up the next story arc. This is completely true in that it sets up the next part of the series while also tying up certain aspects from the beginning. I also think having this end of one story arc is helpful in what will be a seven book series. It helps break up the epic story and give you some sense of conclusion even as the plot expands and you learn more about what they are up against.
One of the things I love about this series is how great Samantha Shannon is at getting you involved in the story and keeping you entertained from the start. The books have this constant action where you are on the edge of your seat waiting to see what Paige and Co. will get up to next. While we only get to see things from Paige's perspective, her unique gift gives us more insight into many aspects of the world and those against Paige.
This book also features so many of the characters I have come to love but also gave us time to meet new characters and fall in love with them. I think the ending of this book was perfect in the sense it left me feeling optimistic and content with where things stood for our characters but it also left the door wide open for what is to come. So while this book was the end of one story arc, I still hate that I have to wait over a year now for the next installment. Hopefully Book 4 is in our hands sooner rather than later and we get to be back with Paige and Co. soon.
Copy provided by Bloomsbury via NetGalley for review
3.5 Stars
I flew through this book since it is one of those super short New Adult books. I really enjoyed Olivia and Nicholas and watching their relationship grow. As with any other new adult book the ending is obvious and you know there will be bumps along the way. I can say it was not all completely predictable though and the ending had a twist I wasn't expecting. I look forward to the next book, Henry's book. We did not see much of him in this book but I'm curious to learn more about him in his own book.
This is a really refreshing series. I'm absolutely obsessed with Mac and Barrons! Plus their banter is great. I'm really looking forward to continuing this series and seeing their slow burning romance continue to unravel. I also really want to learn more about the Fae and Alina, and even Barrons and Mac and what their powers are.
This book took me a bit to get into. When I first started I really struggled to immerse myself in the world and really start to care about the story and the characters. I do not know if this was due to poor writing at first or just a general lack of interest on my part. But once the story started to unfold and I got further into the book, I really started to love this book and start to theorize about what was coming next.
This book has a very unique magic system that I really enjoyed learning about as Henrietta does. I personally tend to enjoy books more when I get to learn about magic at the same time as the protagonist rather than it being already established for them. The whole idea of controlling the elements with your stave (wooden wand-like object) and working to master those abilities to get approval by the queen was fascinating to me.
This book left me with many questions about Henrietta, the ancients, the Magicians versus the Sorcerers, and what is to come next. I have many theories about Henrietta's origin and what her connection to magic really is and I cannot wait for the series to continue to see what the truth is.
This book was definitely female empowerment even in a Victorian time period. Henrietta always stood up for herself and protected those under her even if she was told not to. I really enjoyed the banter she had with countless secondary characters who were trying to tell her what to do or how to behave. The many love interests kind of irked me especially given the time period and Henrietta's upbringing. Jessica Cluess definitely set it up that it could be one of at least three characters. But she did not make romance a huge part of this book, it was there but not a focus. This story was more about Henrietta's journey finding out about her abilities and planning her fight against the ancients.
I really enjoyed Jessica Cluess's take on the chosen one's story and am really intrigued by what is to come in future books!
Copy provided by BloggingForBooks for review
This book was so stinking adorable. Simon is an amazing quirky awkward character that I loved reading about. I loved how the majority of the book I was able to continue guessing who Blue was and when Simon would finally figure it out. I had some inklings throughout the book, but I can honestly say I figured it out when Simon did!
This book is conflicting for me. The book opens with this amazing story about a girl hiding who she is from everyone but her family. When that is taken away, it becomes a story of survival and a story of learning about herself. The first 75% or so of this book I loved. I loved the character development and all the self-discovery that was happening. I also loved the world and the prose Elly Blake used throughout. Up until the 75% mark this was probably going to be a 5 star, if not 4.5 star book for me, it was that good. However, the “climax” ended up ruining my enjoyment. I felt like it was out of place and rushed and I was really enjoying the story up until that point. There was also a twist that I hated. It did not fit in with my thoughts on the story and the characters.
So basically, I loved so much of this story and the characters, but then the reveal at the end happened and I'm annoyed. It could not have been more cliche if it tried. I'm getting a little tired of reading this same thing happen in countless YA books. This book was a fantastic read until that end. If you do not mind repeating YA tropes than I'm sure this book will not leave you feeling the same way I did after finishing. I still highly enjoyed and recommend this book, I just do not like the direction that was taken at the end. I will however continue this trilogy because I connected with the characters and want to see where Elly Blake takes them next.
eARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for review