Mythos

3/5 stars

Original rating : 3.5 stars rounded up
New rating: 3 stars

I was conflicted about what rating to give this book. While this is a book I would definitely recommend it It definitely felt as if there were many factors that affected me while reading this.

This book seems to have little plot. It is more character driven in the sense that we get to analyze not only them but also the family dynamics as a whole. This isn't my particular favorite trope/mechanism (not really sure if either of those are the correct terms for this). I almost always leave with the feeling that I'm missing a good chunk of the book because I lack understanding

1/5 stars

In some cases, I can read through a book and say I read it, I didn't like it, and I would never read it again. This is not one of those books. Instead, I can't even bring myself to finish it. Personally, I felt like this book was a waste of my time. I kept waiting for it to become interesting, but it just couldn't capture my interest.

Henry wasn't likable at all and felt creepy most of the time. I hated the way the book treated his ex. It's almost as if they tried to make it seem as if she attempted suicide for attention-seeking. Clare wasn't treated any better. Both of them revolved their lives around Henry. Personally, I felt like Clare was being groomed by Henry. Being told from a young age she was going to marry Henry was already a big red flag for me. I don't recommend this book as I deem it a waste of time. If you do read it, do it at your own risk.

3/5 stars
I was expecting for this book to be shorter. Although I will say that this is by far one of my favorite retellings of the Queen of Heart's origin story. We get a more in-depth picture as to why the Queen of Hearts came to be.

Summary:
Cath is being courted by the King, which he had to reluctantly accept due to the pressure of her parents. Meanwhile, she is dealing with the growing tension she has had since meeting Jest, as well as dealing with the number of Jabberwock attacks. She tries to try and escape marrying the King by entering a baking contest in order to win enough money to open her own bakery. This results in a disaster and the contest is cancelled. She finds out that she's in love with Jest at the same time she finds out that he is a high-ranking military official for the White Queen. His mission is to steal Cath's heart (the passionate heart of the Queen of Hearts) in order to end the war. Cath crosses the land of Chess in order to be queen without marrying the king. In order to enter, they have to pay a price, which is to see prophecies that reveal their futures. When Jest dies, Raven becomes a murderer, Cath becomes a pitiless Queen of Hearts, and Hatta goes mad. They try to escape it, but ultimately fail. They kill the Jabberwocky, who turns out to be Lady Peter. Jest is decapitated by Peter as an act of revenge. Cath makes a pact with the Three Sisters: they will bring Peter to Cath in exchange for the heart of a queen. She marries the King to obtain the heart and pay the price. They take her heart, and she immediately orders for Peter to be decapitated. This is carried out by Raven, bringing all the prophecies to completion.

Review:
One of my favorite aspects of this book is how the characters were depicted. Some of the best examples were from Cath and Jest. Jest was charming, intriguing, and bold. His character alongside Hatta provided a lot of serious and jarring scenes, as well as hilarious ones. At times, it's hard to do both, especially when you see them initially introduced as comic relief. Cath, on the other hand, was sweet and full of dreams. As the lies start to build up, we see the shift begin to happen, especially as she is fooling the King. By the end, it isn't as surprising to see how she became the unforgiving Queen of Hearts. I didn't necessarily hate any of the characters, as they all had their own intentions behind their actions.

Some of the things I didn't like about this book were the instant love between Jest and Cath. as well as how convoluted and twisted it got towards the middle. I felt that there really wasn't that much development in terms of how Jest and Cath fell in love (this may be more of a me thing since I was focused on understanding the worldbuilding). Also, the introduction of the Land of Chess and the Three Sisters threw me off and left me with a lot to process alongside what I already understood about the worldbuilding.

I would recommend this book but only if I was aware that the person liked villain origin stories or fairytale retellings. It's not a bad book, but it's also not the best book Marissa Meyer has ever written.

4.5/5 stars
I was going back and forth with this book. I wasn't sure if this was a four or five star for me. I ended up settling for 4.5. Even though I was under the assumption that the parents were going to divorce due to their temporary separation I was wrong. One of my favorite aspects of this book is how the art is tied in with the story. At times I was confused on why they placed so much emphasis on the background until I realized how it connected with the story. I didn't particularly like any of the characters but also didn't end up hating any of them. The reason why I couldn't give this a 5 star review was because I didn't feel like the older teens involvement until the very end.

Learned a lot still going to have to go back because the course isn't finished yet. There are a lot of details I will notice when I have to go back to certain chapters.

1/5 stars

I despise this book with a burning passion. I had to read it for my English class, and it was one of the worst books I've had to read for the class. If it had been read for the theater, it may have been a different experience, as they would at least add a comedic aspect to it. This book reminded me of why I despise the Romeo and Juliet trope so much. Very few retellings have made me tolerate this trope. Although some people have told me that this trope is just another version of enemies to lovers, I completely disagree. Going back to the book, I realized that this has another trope I dislike: insta-love. They met and immediately fell for each other. How am I supposed to feel sorry for them when I have no attachments to the characters of the relationship they had? I would love to say that I liked a character from this story, but in this case, all the characters annoyed me, especially since I had to analyze them.

2/5 stars

I really felt bad for not liking this book due to the amount of time and research the author placed into this book. Overall I understand that this was well researched but that unfortunately did not translate into the writing.

It is possible that the reason it wasn't well executed is due to their style of writing. I personally had a hard time differentiating the perspectives of the different characters in the book. It was clearer in the beginning but as it progressed it just got harder and harder.

I liked the lengthy descriptions at first especially when it was the perspective of the prisoner and the person who carried out the dissection (forgot his name). Although I feel like it was overdone as this also was done with the rest of the perspectives.

Honestly, I am not sure if I would ever recommend this book.

Original rating: 3/5 stars
New rating: 2.3/5 stars

I originally thought it was well written when I first read it years ago. Now that I have read it again, I am so glad that I didn't continue to read this series years ago. The writing made this book boring. The first few chapters were alright and probably where I paid the most attention. This is where I liked Amy's character the best. All the characteristics, flawed yet well-balanced, that I liked about her were lost as soon as she came to Oz. Also, I realized that this book also included the insta-love trope. Considering everything that was going on during this book, the romance aspect made no sense to me. I feel like if done well, this series could have been resolved in just one book. This series is not worth reading, so I can't recommend it.

Its not the worst book I've read and it's not the best either. I would have rated it higher if I wasn't forced to have read it in class and then have to analyze it.

3.1/5 stars

I read this book pre-pandemic for English class. The teacher had warned us not to get too obsessed with the idea of possibly getting infected with the virus. Previously, some classes had some problems in gaining the fear of possibly getting infected. In my case, this wasn't a problem. I had different issues with the book itself. The book does a good job of keeping you interested and, at some points, on the edge of your seat, but the information provided within the book is rather inaccurate at times.

The author is more focused on inflicting fear than educating you on the topic of Ebola. I was introduced to this book in class as a way to get educated on the topic of Ebola, but it failed to do so. I did learn a bit more about what it causes to the body and where it spreads, but I'm sure there are other more informative books. I would recommend this to someone who wants to get more into the genre of medical horror.

1/5 stars

I read this when I was 11. It took me 4 years to realize it was written by JKR. It was a weird read. I've read better mystery books.

1/5 stars

I had dropped this a few years ago when I first picked it up, and I didn't remember why I dropped it. I revisited this in 2022 because it had an increase in popularity on BookTok. I thought maybe I had missed something, but I was mistaken. I had forgotten how bad it was.

I grew to hate Feyre as a character. When we were first introduced to her, we were told that she was a hunter and the primary caretaker of her family. Yet, she always tends to make the most idiotic decisions. For example, she decided to run towards her father at night despite knowing and seeing how deceptive the Fae can be. The other characters weren't much better. Tamlin was okay at times, but there were moments in which he acted differently from what we were told to believe about him. Amarantha is supposed to be the villain, but I felt that she was too boring. Her actions were sort of predictable.

I thought that the SA scenes were romanticized in a way. She almost gets gang raped by three Fae men, and Feyre acts as if nothing has happened. She shows no signs of being affected by it. When Tamlin assaults her, she also ends up justifying it and thinking it was “hot”. I ended up skipping these scenes and similar scenes as well.

I would say that a huge part of why I didn't like this book is also due to the writing. It was rather inconsistent, which ended up reflecting on the characters as well. It made it hard to read, and I could barely understand what was going on because when I went back to double-check the previous chapter, there was either no connection or one that contradicted it.

I wouldn't recommend this book to other people. If you are going to read this, beware of the inconsistencies and the SA scenes as well.

Although it's been recommended, it never caught my interest.

I honestly thought this would be better. I wouldn't recommend this book if you want to learn about asexuality. A lot of the things mentioned are dated, and the author's own opinions are very implicit in the information they chose to provide.

3/5 stars

For starters, I did finish reading this book. I placed it on my DNF list because I skimmed through a whole chunk of the book because I couldn't stand how boring the war parts were. I tried to seriously read the wartime scenes, but I kept getting distracted and didn't make much progress. I pretty much skipped to the end. Otherwise, the writing is excellent, and there are some excellent quotes. I might just have to come back to reread this when I'm in a better headspace to read it thoroughly.

2/5 stars

Yeah. This is definitely not a 5-star book for me. This felt too unfinished. I am definitely glad I never picked up the next book in the series and ending up forgetting this book. There are a number of things that bothered me. I'm just going to summarize them.

There was very little character development throughout the book.

It was an interesting read. Definitely different from what I've read before. It's not for everyone. Read it if you like James Wood or are just really bored.

3/5

Personally, I won't read it because it didn't really catch my attention. Also, it feels like I'm too late in terms of the fandom and am just not that motivated to learn about its lore. 

2.8/5 stars

I have to say that this is one of my least favorite books in the series. It has a lot of tropes that I dislike. I wasn't particularly excited when I first got to it, and rereading it hasn't improved my opinion of this book. If anything, it went from a 3.1 rating to a 2.8.

Unlike with Cinder, the format of this book felt off. The storylines felt like they clashed a lot. I felt like I was more focused on Cinder's storyline than Scarlets'. I felt like I wasn't really able to know who Scarlet was as the majority of her story consisted of her talking to/looking for her grandma. The introduction of Wolf made it worse. I felt myself skimming through the chapters, only actually paying attention when it mentioned Cinder, Thorne, Kai, or Queen Levana.

The whole alpha concept confused me. I knew that the guy's name was Wolf, but I hadn't expected the author to play into it. Also, the relationship between Scarlet and Wolf felt like it was instant love. This almost made me drop the book and go straight into the next book in the series. The only thing that kept me going is that I was afraid I would miss a detail that would be needed in order to understand a part of the next book in the series. Another thing that kept me going was seeing the friendship between Cinder and Thorne. They definitely one of the better parts of the book.

I wouldn't recommend this book. It's not bad, but it's also not very good. I personally would not read this again. I thought Scarlet would be one of my new favorite characters, but I just ended up disliking her. Maybe it was due to the fact that I hyped her character up too much before reading about her.

Lowkey was disappointed in the first half.

I am not completely sold on this book. I originally thought it was a stand alone. I was wrong . Either way I don't believe I will continue this series. I couldn't get fully invested in the story and found myself zoning out.

3/5 stars
It's bound to change. I'm going to have to reread certain parts. I don't think I would give this book a three-star rating if I based my review on my initial judgement of the book.

3/5 stars

This book isn't the best romance book I have read, but it's a cheesy quick read. Although in order to enjoy it, I needed to ignore a lot of tropes that were used. Also, at times, the character could act rather toxic or problematically.

Summary:
America Singer gets accepted into The Selection, a competition of 35 girls who are after the prince's hand. Whether it's because they want his heart or his crown, what is a dream come true for most girls is a complete nightmare for America. It means leaving behind Aspen, the person she loves, who is a caste below her. As she leaves and starts living in the palace and gets to know Prince Maxon, she starts questioning what she really wants.

America - I was conflicted about how she acted throughout the book, although it can be understood considering what she has to go through in the book. From dealing with a broken heart to having to face rebel attacks Still, there are times when she does act like she's not like other girls. I'm glad this isn't more common throughout the book, but she is one of my least favorite characters. We also have to remember that she is only 16 and is still maturing. 

Maxon - He is one of my favorite characters in this book. I wasn't expecting him to act that way when I first got into the book. He is a rather awkward person but is shown to be caring. I loved the first interaction he had with America. Instead of getting angry, he tried his best to not place pressure on her and understand her situation. This continues throughout the book.

Aspen- He has to be one of my least favorite characters. He was the reason why America even came to the selection. He felt emasculated and had a desire to provide for America but couldn't because of his lower caste. He breaks up with her because of this, but then gets reintroduced as a guard later in the story. I already knew that this meant that the next book would be focused on a love triangle. 

Overall, I'm glad that they focused more on the events of the selection and the blossoming relationship between Maxon and America. I also liked how they introduced most of the other competitors. I wish we got to see more of Marlee in this book, as I liked how their friendship was developing. Read it if you don't like to think too much about the plot and are there for the romance.

3/5 stars
It definitely helped me a lot in further understanding comics. It helped me get through an class that forced me to analyze comics. If you want to know more about the art 9f comics or need to get through an analysis this is the correct book to look at.