Not a lot to say
with this month. Mostly I just wasn’t in the mood for reading or
writing (which is why this is late). I tried to do 2 readthons and
didn’t fully complete either of them. I only read 6 books and while
overall they were good (only having one 2 star), they were almost all
disappointing to a certain degree. I did still manage to have a good
variety of books (including a non fiction), read my classic of the
month, and continue with my yearly reading challenge. Also midway
through the month I started impleneting a new star rating system on a
scale of 10 stars that I would then translate into a scale out of 5
stars. For clarification numbers on the left is out of 10 stars and
the numbers on the right is out of 5 stars: 1-2 stars=1 star, 3-4
stars=2 stars, 5-6 stars=3 stars, 6.5-7 stars= 4 stars, 8-9= 5 stars
(if a book manages to get 10/10 it’s obviously going to be 5 stars).
Not a bad month, just wasn’t what I hoped it would be.
More Than This by
Patrick Ness: In the past I’ve read two very different books by Ness.
A Monster Calls and The Knife of Never Letting Go. Also had very
different opinions about the books. I’ve stayed away from Ness’ other
books because they’ve gotten mixed reviews, at best. The one
exception seemed to be More Than This, which everyone seems to like
but also tip toed around what it’s about. Now having read it, it
makes sense why very little is given away about this book, but I
really didn’t like it. The only reason I kept reading it was in the
hope that I would get answers by the end of the story, which I
didn’t. I will say that the first quarter of this book, when Seth is
waking up and just experiencing the environment around him, was
actually good. Lyrical and introspective, the pacing was just right
and really pulled me into the story despite little action or
dialogue. It was definitely my favorite part of the book. After the
mysterious Driver shows up, however, the entire novel goes downhill.
Instead of being a slow, tender story that would focus on people, and
life, and mortality, it just degrades into this weird action packed
dystopian. Characters were just bland, absolutely devoid of
personality and minimal back story to establish how tragic they are.
As for Seth himself, I liked that he was gay and in the big scheme of
things it wasn’t a big deal, but I don’t get why their had to be such
extreme hatred for him being gay when that was only a very small part
of the story. What’s most frustrating about this book is that nothing
makes sense and it provides no answers. Even the ending makes no
sense! I can’t go into any details because of spoilers but this is
definitely one of the worst post apocalyptic/ dystopian stories I
have ever read, and there are a ton of generic ones out there. This
novel was just a cheap Matrix rip off with sloppy execution. Based
off my opinion of this book, and what I’ve heard of other works by
Ness, I don’t think I’ll be reading any more material that produces.
More Than This received 2 out 5 stars (3/10) and was my pick
for the Treasure Hunting Readathon: Door.
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I was initially going to read this one
next month, as my classic for September, but I picked it up for this
month as part of a reading challenge (which I did not complete). I
know it’s classic that a lot of people read as a child, but I wasn’t
one of those people, and I was curious how I would feel about it as
an adult. There were definitely some problematic aspects of this book
that are honestly staples of Victorian literature, child abuse
(neglect) and racism. That being said, I rather enjoyed this book.
It’s a simple story, a sour girl discovering a secret garden, with a
lot of depth due to the themes of love, friendship, and growth,
making it both easy to read but something that lingers with me. It’s
a pretty book, with both the writing and the setting, that works as a
timeless classic. The Secret Garden received 4 out 5 stars (7/10).
The Book Thief by
Markus Zusak: When I read this book in junior high, I liked it but I
honestly didn’t get the hype. Now rereading, I realize that I missed
so much as kid and this is the type of book I would recommend
everyone read. Taking place during WWII, this book follows a young
girl named Liesel as she grows up in a small town in Germany with her
foster family. This is a book that nails everything that a historical
fiction should be. The war serves as a backdrop while the spotlight
is put on the struggles of daily life and the effects of the war.
Characters are all well written, to the point where they come off as
life like. Each one stands out as an individual with their own story
to tell: from the book thief, to accordion player, to the Jesse
Owen’s fan, to the Jewish fist fighter, even Death himself. Even the
plot, which is simple war time slice of life, really pulls me in with
it’s humanity and stellar characters. It’s honestly hard to restrain
myself in this quick wrap up because this book evokes so many
thoughts and emotions in me. The best thing about this book is that
it shows the humanity, it shows the light even in dark times. There’s
very little fault to this book, if any, and is the kind of book the
comes along every once in while that you know will withstand the test
of time and evolve into a modern classic. Needless to say The Book
Thief received 5 out 5 stars (9/10).
The Social Sex: A
History of Female Friendship by Marilyn Yalom and Theresa Donovan
Brown: While the topic of this piece of nonfiction did appeal to me,
since I’ll read just about any history book that focuses on women,
but I think because it was a topic I had such high hopes for, I was
ultimately disappointed by it. There were only a few chapters that I
thought were actually informative, which is actually the problem I
have with most shorter history books. When it’s a history book
there’s generally a lot of ground to cover, that can’t be properly
condensed into a book under 400 pages. The result is usually a text
that glosses over the more intimate and intricate details, which is
what I’m really looking for. I really wanted to get a sense of the
real world history of friendships among women because it’s something
I feel like doesn’t get the spotlight it deserves and even in fiction
I’m always looking for good examples of friendship between female
characters. The first few chapters focused on the philosophy of
friendship, while emphasizing how male dominated it was at the
expense of women. That theme remained to almost the halfway point,
which I really didn’t want because that lesson has been driven in my
head and I don’t want to see it everywhere I go. Those chapters
really only focused on a few notable female friendships at various
periods of history, and only in 3 countries (sort of 4) in the entire
world. There were a few solid chapters in the middle, and the book
did end better than it started, but the last few chapters kept
repeating the same thing. I felt stiffed because most the book just
wasn’t informative or memorable. An interesting subject that just
fell short in it’s delivery (and possibly research). The Social
Sex received 3 out 5 stars (6/10) and was my pick for the
PopSugar prompt “book by 2 female authors” (which was really hard
to find).
The Girl of Fire
and Thorns by Rae Carson: Every century, someone is chosen to be the
bearer of the Godstone. Princess Elisa is the current bearer, and
while she is prophecised to perform a great act of service, the path
to that destiny is filled with danger. When she is married off to a
king from a neighboring kingdom she must finally face what it means
to be the bearer and begin her long journey with an uncertain ending.
I am excited to talk about this one but I’m finding it hard to. When
I first read it back in high school, it instantly became one of my
favorite series and remained one of my favorite series all these
years. Because of how much I loved it, I put this reread off for
awhile because I was super nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my
previous experience. It didn’t, but to be fair it would be almost
impossible since my reading tastes have changed, I have a better
understanding of what I think makes a good book, and I’ve been hyping
up this book for years. What made this first book so beloved to me
(an intelligent female protagonist who experiences amazing growth and
the role of religion) were still all there with the depth that I
remember them having. There even some surprising elements: like I
still thought the romance was well handled and I loved the world.
Everything about it from the religion to the geography to the
language and even the fact that all the characters have darker skin
(seriously if you’re looking for more diverse YA I would totally
recommend this one), clearly has influence from a certain culture in
our world but is still its own thing. There were however, a few
things that did disappoint me, one of them being a big deal (at least
for me personally). The pacing of the narrative itself was fine,
especially since there was a lot of journeying in this book, but it
almost felt like the narrative was moving too fast and I just wish
there were at least a few moments where the plot settles and we get
more intimate character moments. The major issue I had with this book
the lack of girl power, something I thought this series had but upon
reread I was confronted with the fact that it really doesn’t. Again I
would like to emphasize that Elisa is a fantastic character, not only
because she proves her intelligence and puts it to good use but she’s
someone who grows past her insecurities and becomes a better
individual for it, but she’s the only female character that gets this
treatment. Most of the other females, like her sister Alodia, her
nurse Ximena, and her new handmaid Mara, get little screen time and
are hardly relevant to the story, while the only female side
character, Cosme, is a total bitch to Elisa for basically the entire
novel. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted in terms of girl
power, and I was really disappointed by that, but that’s my only
major complaint. This book has its strong points that elevate it
beyond the typical YA fantasy but it isn’t all that I thought it
would be. The Girl of Fire and Thorns received 5 out 5 stars (8/10)
and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “reread of a past
favorite.”
The Crown of
Embers by Rae Carson: Immediately after I finished The Girl of Fire
and Thorns I started reading this one, since I want to marathon read
all the books in the Fire and Thorns series, like I did last time.
Where the first book focuses on Elisa’s personal growth (the whole
series does but its most prominent in the first book), introducing
the world, and the battle of good vs evil (Joyans vs Invierne), the
second book focuses more on Elisa being a ruler while still having a
looming destiny and the political machinations of the world, and
starts to blur the line between good and evil. Based on that summary
it sounds more like the kind of book that I would love, but I
struggled more with this book than I did the previous. I think it’s
due to the fact that this book tried to tackle more mature subject
matter, but kept the narrative pacing the same as its predecessor,
and also didn’t really remedy the issues I had in the previous book,
which were only more prominent. I didn’t like the political intrigue
because almost everything about it was just kind of dumped in the
book with no prior development, which it really needed in order to
create a believable scenario. I discussed in The Girl of Fire and
Thorns wrap up that I was pretty disappointed by the lack of girl
power which only got worse in this book. Mara as a character
frustrated me because she only existed to talk about boys with Elisa,
but there’s also a lack of females being major characters or even
important figures in politics. Even Elisa being a ruler is undermined
by all the males in her court (except Hector), which is something
I’ve seen done with YA fantasies with female monarchs, and I really
don’t like it because it reduces the queen down to little more than a
figure head. Carson clearly shows that she can write amazing
characters that are also female, but I don’t know why she reserves it
to only 1. Speaking of Elisa though, she is the best thing about this
whole series. Like I love everything about Elisa. I love that she
retains her core characteristics (strong moral code, her faith and
intelligence) but she continues to progress as a character,
constantly evolving to reach her full potential. She’s honestly what
drives the narrative, her decisions as a queen, her destiny as the
bearer of the Godstone, and her internal growth. As YA fantasy,
especially one from the time period it was published, this is a good
book, but it’s frustrating seeing the obvious potential this book has
to be a rather sophisticated fantasy series, but then just not having
it reach that potential. The Crown of Embers received 4 out 5 stars
(7/10).
July didn’t quite
go how I planned it to. First, there was my families vacation to
South Carolina. I brought several books with my because I thought I
would just be able to crank out within a few days, but our stay was
much shorter than usual and even during traveling I wasn’t able to
read as much for various reasons (fear of planes and driving in the
dark). So in that time frame I was only able to complete 3 books,
which was good but nowhere near what I was hoping. Than work started
getting busy, and I had to deal with some graduate school stuff, so I
didn’t have as much time for reading. That all being said I was still
able to complete 10 books, most of which were good and I gave 3 or 4
stars to (there were a few notable exceptions), and accomplished
various reading goals, like completing the Reading Frenzy’s Runaway
with the Circus Readathon (which consisted of 6 prompts) and did my
classic of the month. I will also say this month had a huge variety
of books, both in the genre and status, and while I still definitely
gravitate toward adult fantasy, I feel like picking up books outside
of my preferred genre is becoming easier as I end up liking more and
more of those selections. To summarize, despite not getting to all
the books I wanted to and the three 1 star reads, this month was
really solid and I definitely found some books that I could add to my
favorites of the year.
Morning Star by
Pierce Brown: Darrow must complete the mission of the Sons of Ares,
to break the chains of Society, but the events of the previous book
have completely changed things. With dwindling resources and allies,
Darrow and the Sons of Ares make a final stand against the tyranny of
the Sovereign and the Jackal. Upon rereading this book, I’m
definitely glad that Brown is continuing the series because I don’t
think this works well as a finale. When I read the last book in the
series, I want to feel that full emotional impact and want a sense of
resolution from the ending. I’m not saying everything needs to be
completely fixed, I like having a few loose threads, but this ending
leaves me with such a sense of uncertainty that I almost feel
anxious, which is not something I want from a finale. My biggest
issue with this book was probably the pacing of the book, and how
everything was just rushed so it could be crammed into one last book.
I know there’s a lot that this book had a ton it needed to cover, and
without a doubt one of this series strongest feature is its action,
but something was off and this seemed to produce a ripple effect that
tainted other elements of this book. The stakes didn’t feel as high,
despite the fact that they were potentially world ending stakes.
Characters arcs were incomplete, with only Darrow and Sevro having
really progressed in any way (and even then I have mixed feelings
about Darrow’s arc), and romances were really forced into the
narrative with little chemistry between the couples. New characters
that were added in honestly had little impact. There was, however, 1
major highlight of this book, and really the whole series. That was
the villain, The Jackal. As a villain, he is terrific. He’s
terrifying, amoral, cunning, and deceptive. He isn’t a fighter, but
that’s what makes him so dangerous, because he knows how to get
others to do the fighting so that all opponents underestimate him.
His petty grievances against his family, and self worth issues make
him human, but he is anything but humane. He’s honestly one of the
best villains, ever. Morning Star was a fun, enjoyable read,
but it really lacked the development that it needed to elevate and
complete it, and as a finale it really is disappointing. Morning
Star received 3 out 5 stars and for the Circus Readathon was my
pick for the Flyer prompt “a book set in space.”
Out of the Easy by
Ruta Sepetys: When I completed Sepetys novel Salt to the Sea,
I loved it so much that I decided to read the rest of her books. I
took this one with me when I went on vacation because I would be in
South Carolina, and since this book is set in the south I thought it
would be the perfect time to read it. This is a historical fiction
set in New Orleans during the 1950s. Josie is the daughter of a
prostitute with big dreams of leaving behind all the prejudice and
brothel that she has grown up in and starting fresh with a college
education from a prestigious college. I admit I had high standards
going into this one because of Salt to the Sea,
and while Out of the Easy
wasn’t as good, I still liked it. There were a few hiccups however.
This narrative lacked direction at times, to the point where things
just stalled, with no action or quiet moments. I also didn’t like the
romance. It wasn’t awful but very predictable and just didn’t have
enough substance or development, especially when compared to almost
every other relationship. The one other thing I struggled with was
the setting itself. The writing just didn’t convey the vibrancy of
New Orleans, which is shame because New Orleans has such a colorful
reputation. Most of these complaints, however, were minor and this
book managed to pull of a really solid, more mature narrative without
being depressing. Characters were the highlight of this book because
all of them had a life like quality to them, but the best one was
probably Josie. Watching as various relationships shape who she is,
working hard to achieve her dreams, and having to tackle
disappointments and harsh realities made her She’s definitely a
flawed individual, but I think that at least makes her relateable and
sympathetic. Still not as good as Salt to the Sea, but
a decent good and one of the better historical fiction novels that
I’ve read. Out of the Easy
received 4 out 5 stars.
Stories of Your
Life and Others by Ted Chiang: Since I was going on vacation, I just
wanted a nice quick read, and I tend to overall like short story
collections. I wasn’t sure what I expected going into this, I think I
was hoping for something like Ken Liu’s Paper Menagerie anthology,
but that wasn’t what this collection was. It was exclusively science
fiction stories (though there were a couple stories that blurred the
lines) but the most surprising aspect was definitely how many hard SF
stories there were, which is a sub genre I’m not comfortable with
yet. Those stories were definitely my least favorite because not only
did I disliked what they focused on, physics theorems and
mathematical proofs (which I’ve always struggled with) but also from
a writing stand point these stories were the weakest. There were
several issues present in most of the stories (weak endings, cold
tone, impersonal characters, and disjointed narratives) but they were
just really all present and emphasized in the 2 hard SF stories
(Story of Your Life and Division by Zero). On the bright side, there
was some very good stories that I really loved that I think nailed
everything a short story should be. My favorite 2 stories were Tower
of Babylon and Seventy Two Letters, both of which would get 5 stars.
The individual stories get mixed reviews from me, ranging from poor 1
star, to average 3 star, to excellent 5 star, and despite the fact
that execution felt weak in most of the stories, most of the stories
at least had some interesting themes. Overall thought it was a decent
collection and I’m glad I read it, but I wish I had known it would be
just SF stories. As a whole, Stories of Your Life and Others
received 3 out 5 stars.
The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle: This is classic fantasy story that somehow
managed to stay under my radar until a couple years ago. I honestly
didn’t expect much out of it, but at the very least it would be a
quick, easy read, with a simple premise of the last unicorn going on
a quest to find the rest of her kind. After completing this one, it
actually managed to exceed my expectations. It definitely hit all the
beats of a classic fantasy: a long quest, medieval European setting
and myths, wicked king, magic and prophecy. There’s a lot of elements
about the book that could make me dislike it, because I have
struggled with several epic fantasy novels in just this past year.
The difference is that The Last Unicorn is significantly shorter than
the other books, and that is without a doubt what makes it work for
me. Instead of dragging the story out as long as possible to make it
seem grand and epic (because everyone’s trying to emulate Tolkien),
Beagle gets right to the point and keeps everything at a smaller
scale. This pays off because almost every scene feels worthwhile and
I’m actually invested in the characters, who were all interesting and
well written. Even things I would normally irritate me, I thought was
well done. Specifically the prophecy aspects of the narrative.
Prophecies are so overused, and rarely done well, they usually make
the story feel cheap. In The Last Unicorn, the prophecy wasn’t
a fundamental part of the story, but it did add layers and the way it
played out was done in such a poetic way that it really was a
satisfying addition to the narrative. There were also some great
themes in this story, in fact the whole thing felt like a mystical
allegory for growing up, and I personally love finding good coming of
age narratives. There was a lot about this novel that just worked for
me and I thought was well executed, but there were a few missteps.
Most were minor, like one filler scene (that was a bit weird), and
the juxtaposition of modern pop culture reference being present in a
medieval setting, but the biggest issue I had was the ending. It was
a vague and just felt like I was missing something (though I can’t
pin point exactly what), but the ending definitely dropped the rating
a little. All in all this was a solid fantasy that stands the test of
time, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good stand
alone fantasy novel. The Last Unicorn received 4 out 5 stars
and was one of the books I read for the Reading Frenzy’s “Runaway
with the Circus” Readathon.
Brisingr by
Christopher Paolini: Long books can be a struggle to get through,
especially if you become increasingly frustrated with the story, and
oh boy was that the case for this one. Over 700 pages, and I’d say
about 600 of those pages was just filler. Most of the story was
dedicated to sub plots which I think were supposed to add to the
characters and the world (like the Dwarves electing a new king) and
the only events that tied the book to the rest of the series was at
the very beginning and end of the book, which makes the entire book
feel unnecessary. To add insult to injury, this tome of a book was
almost exclusively in the POV of people I didn’t care about. Eragon
was annoying at first, but now he’s just bland because his purpose in
this book seemed to just be a mouth piece to spew exposition. There’s
also the detail of him having made allegiances to everyone he comes
in contact with, and while this could have been an interesting plot
point and character flaw (since everyone points out that he’s
basically spread himself to thin) nothing really comes of it. Roran
got a lot more screen time in this book, and I hated his POV in the
second book and I disliked it even more in this one, because he
doesn’t do anything and doesn’t deserve all the leadership he gets.
He’s basically a discount Eragon, his chapters were so grating that I
just started skipping them all together. The ultimate slap in the
face though, was the removal of Nausada’s POV. She’s my favorite
character, by far, the most complex, and I really felt her absence.
In general I was so disconnected from the story and the characters,
that after days of finishing it I honestly don’t remember most of
what happened. It sucks because not only was this a favorite series
of mine as a child, but also because I see glimpses of potential for
this series to be elevated for adult audiences but nothing is done
with it. I’ll read the last book at some point, just to finish the
series, but I’m in no rush to get to what will probably another
disappointing tome. Brisingr received 1 out 5 of stars.
The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: For a little over a year I’ve wanted
to read this book. Granted it’s a mystery which falls out of my usual
genre, but it was receiving enough attention to make me curious.
Almost immediately I had issues with this book, and those issues
stretch through the entire narrative. First is the writing style.
Larsson (or at least the translator, since this was originally
published in Sweden) seems to use a very dry style, utilizing the
precise words that are needed. I have a history of disliking books
with a dry style and this one was no exception. The result was that I
was honestly bored, felt like I was reading a lot of filler that
focused on what exactly everyone looked like and what they were
doing, and just in general very detached from the narrative. The
other part of this book that was off putting for me was the sexuality
and sexual violence. Like this is definitely a novel I would only
recommend for an adult audience. I already knew there was going to be
a rape scene with Salander, but there was more than just that, which
I was not expecting. It just builds up, from the male protagonist
constantly having casual sex, to the way men regard Salander, to
Salander being explicitly raped twice, then a missing person case
turning into a hunt for a sexual sadist with a trail of bodies. It
was so bleak and really turned me off from the narrative. Combining
the writing style and sex, and I ended up skimming the majority of
the book, because every time I tried to fully read, I just felt worn
down. Speaking of which the mystery narrative wasn’t that good. I’ve
seen worse but I wasn’t invested in this one at all, there were some
notable holes in it, and toward the end it was pretty obvious who was
the killer. I wasn’t invested in the characters because they
basically felt like archetypes that I either disliked or had seen way
too many times, although Salander did manage to have a few shining
moments. Basically there was nothing that I liked about this story:
the tone, the writing, the violence, the characters, and the story
itself. I personally would recommend just watching the movie if
you’re curious about this one, since I could see it potentially being
better in movie format. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompts: “set
in Scandinavia,” “published post humously,” and “features an
amateur detective.”
Fangirl by Rainbow
Rowell: The only reason I read this book is because I wanted to knock
out some challenge reads. I didn’t expect to love this one, it’s not
in a genre I gravitate towards and Rowell’s books strike me as a mix
between John Green and Nicholas Sparks novels, neither of which I
have any interest reading. However, this novel fulfilled 2 prompts,
so I really needed to get this one done. Honestly, this one felt like
I was reading fanfiction. The writing was choppy and juvenile, the
dialouge was awkward and unnatural, the characters were card board
cutouts made from a collection of cliques, there was no chemistry
with the romance (love interest was a bit of creep at times), and
whenever there was a plot it was melodramatic moments that the author
was trying to force. Even though this was supposed to be a coming of
age book, with the protagonist going off to college, and being in a
fandom (with the fictional fandom being a blatantly gay Harry
Potter), it delivered on none of that. If you want a good book on
fandoms, with a well written protagonist with social anxiety, I would
skip this book and just read Eliza and Her Monsters.
Everything about this book was lazy and awkward and was even
uncomfortable at moments, and I’m just glad I got it over with
quickly. Fangirl received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the
PopSugar prompts: “set on a college campus” and “author whose
1st and last name start with the same letter.”
The Strange Case
of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss: This book was in a
word, fun. All this book wanted to do was tell a fun story, and I
think it delivered on that. The whole story focuses on Mary Jekyll as
she discovers that her late father was part of a secret organization
of scientists that might be connected to a recent string of murders
in London. Along the way she meets several other women in the same
predicament as her, and together they work to stop the mysterious
Society of Alchemists before it’s too late. Loved how the whole book
is just a nod to several iconic literary figures, especially of
Victorian Literature, but it really focuses on the females and the
effect that their “fathers” had on them. The way the book was
written, as a sort of memoir with each of the girls adding in their
own commentary, worked well because it gave us some insight to each
of their personalities as well as making slight commentary on the
Victorian Era. Surprisingly I also liked how the mystery was handled,
because that’s usually where a story comes crashing down for me. I
think that’s because it took it’s time to develop and arise
naturally, kept the stakes relatively small, and set the groundwork
for a series long conflict. I thought Mary was a pretty good
protagonist, a practical minded leader and good hearted individual.
While the book keeps the plot simple, which worked, its also kept
most of the characters simple, which did not entirely work. For most
of the girls, and even other side characters, I felt like they
weren’t developed much outside of their original context. Which meant
that I didn’t feel much attachment to them, nor did I get a feel for
their inner dynamics, which is rather important for group based
stories. Granted the book didn’t suffer too much from it and we have
the whole just of the series to further develop them. In my opinion
this book is ultimately just a fluffy story that’s great for reading
slumps. The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter received 4
out of stars and was my pick for the Circus prompt “Cotton Candy: a
fluffy and light hearted read.”
Nevernight by Jay
Kristoff: Hyped books always make me skeptical, because more often
than not I’ve been burned by them. Initially I got this one as a gift
for my sister because it seemed like the type of book she would
enjoy, but I was intrigued because of all the praise it had been
receiving. If the premise of this book sounds familiar, a young girl
training to take revenge on a corrupt government that executed her
family, that’s because it is. At the start this book does feel just
like a copy of Arya Stark’s narrative, and even the rest of the story
features overused tropes that I don’t like (Mean Girl and Mean
Teacher) but I think everything else about this book makes up for
that. The world was really interesting, a blend of various real world
time periods and cultures but injected a healthy amount of
fantastical elements. Loved the Red Church and the various classes,
aka Halls, because you actually get to see what the acolytes learn
and how it would be useful. “Truths” was definitely my favorite
because that was the class with poisons and chemicals. I also
appreciate the fact that while this definitely is an adult fantasy,
and has dark and grim elements, it never steps over the line of being
bleak to an absurd degree like a lot of fantasy (adult and YA)
currently is, which is nice because I hate grimdark books. Characters
were all interesting to say the least because while each was unique,
with their own quirks and motivations, they all have a cut throat
streak to them since all are either assassins or training to be
assassins. While I did like Mia and found her to be an excellent
protagonist, she wasn’t actually my favorite character, which speaks
to how good the side characters were. All the relationships in this
book were artfully done and really tugged on my emotions. Like I
wanted to trust others and for true friendships to be developed, only
for the rug to be ripped from under me and those relationships only
to end in death or betrayal. Even liked the romance, which is saying
something because it’s hard for to find a romance I think works well
(still didn’t need the sex scenes though). As for the plot, I’ve
already stated that there were some tropes and the story did drag at
times, but overall I liked the story. I liked seeing the various
twists and turns that it took, I thought the flashbacks were well
utilized, all the pieces just clicked together, and by the end of the
story I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation. There’s also a
matter of the footnotes, which I know some people don’t like, but I
personally liked them because of how they added world building but
also conveyed the narrators wit. This book wasn’t super original, but
everything about this book was really solid and I honestly loved it.
I’m eager to see where the rest of the series goes. Nevernight
received 4.5 out 5 stars, and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt
“religious setting,” and for the Circus Readthon prompts: “Big
Top” (red, white, black colors on cover), “Grandstand” (hyped
book), and “Ringmaster” (first book in a series).
The Art of War by
Sun Tzu: Over the years, I’ve read a variety of books. Mostly
fiction, mostly fantasy but I’ve also read plenty of non fiction and
classics, yet this one is really isn’t like any other book I’ve read.
A blend of classical writing and non fiction, above all it’s a book
on military tactics. While the concept is good, and I did find this
insightful, I don’t read books that focus on military. It’s such a
dry, technical form of writing that I struggle to visualize and can’t
connect with, and as a result I just tend to glaze over battle
scenes, even in fiction novels that I’m really liking. I also didn’t
like how the supplemental notes and translations were placed within
the book, to the point where the writing felt very choppy, and I
honestly struggled with getting through the last 50 or so pages. On
that note, I think Art of War is an interesting read, that
illuminates the delicate relationship between peace and war, and does
make the subject of military strategy approachable and
understandable, but the subject still isn’t something up my alley,
and there were times I was just bored when reading it (both due to
the subject and the writing itself). The Art of War received 3
out 5 stars and was my classic read of the month.
Okay, so I’m
actually a bit surprised that the month turned out the way it did.
After the past couple of months, I accepted that wasn’t likely to
read a total of more than 5 books. This month I was able to read a
whopping total of 15 books. 15! I haven’t read that many books since
January. Granted 2 of those books were DNF, one was a short classic,
and another was only 7 pages, but still it’s an impressive amount for
the month. As for ratings it was all over the place. I had everything
from a 1 star DNF to even a 5 star book, but the majority of books
fell in the middle with 3 stars. This was also a surprise because
toward the middle of this month, I was just reading 1 and 2 star
books back to back. I lost my enthusiasm for reading, resigned myself
to the possibility that this would be a horrible reading month, and
even went a few days where I didn’t read anything. After soon detox
time, I pushed through and even managed to end the month on a
relatively good note. Also got back on track with the reading
challenges. I read a total of 6 books for the PopSugar Reading
Challenge and finished at least 1 of the books I set out for the
Reading Frenzy’s Pride Month Buzzword Challenge. Biggest achievement
was completing my Goodreads Goal of reading 50 books within the year.
By the end of this month I completed 60 books, and now I want to see
if I can make it to 100. Probably won’t but, it will be an amazing
accomplishment. So despite a significant low point, June was actually
a good month.
Armistice by Lara
Elena Donnelly: The previous book Amberlough had been a
thorough disappointment, and I was nervous this one would be the last
straw for this series. In fact it came close to being the biggest
disappointment of the month. If this book wasn’t impressing me by the
halfway point than I was just going to give up the series. That did
not happen, in fact I really ended up enjoying this book. Continuing
some time after the previous book (I honestly couldn’t tell you how
much time, probably no more than 5 years), we follow a few characters
from the previous book in their new circumstances, as well as a new
character with connections to all the old characters. As I said in my
Monthly Wrap Up for May, characters were the driving force for this
series, which is part of why the first book struggled, because the
character weren’t done well. In this book however, the characters are
much better because they now have some sense of identity. Aristide
and Cordelia were tolerable, if not a little likeable at times.
Cordelia’s clearly been through some tough times but keeps grinding
through to achieve her goal of destroying the Ospies, and her skills
are good enough to convince other to help her cause. Aristide seems
to want out of the criminal life, enjoying a new life of luxury in
film, but the past won’t let go of him. The new character, Lillian,
was fantastic, like without a doubt the best part of the book. I like
how she’s connected to the other characters, both with her profession
and the fact that she’s Cyril’s sister. Her work with the press puts
in several politically delicate situations, but she demonstrates the
smarts and the drive to accomplish her goal of saving her son.
Through her you also finally get some behind the scenes political
machinations, something this entire series needs yet usually fails to
deliver on. Onto one of the stronger aspects of this series, and that
suprisingly is the romance. The series stretching relationship is
Aristide and Cyril, and with Cyril being absent, you see how much
Aristide is effected by Cyril’s absence. While having the main
relationship be a gay romance, my favorite relationship was between
Lillian and Jinadh, a minor royalty from the lush, tropical country
where half the books takes place (I think the name is Liso, but I
honestly don’t know). They have a history, which resulted in their
son, but can’t be together due to her profession and social taboo’s
in his country. Yet when they meet again they still feel the
chemistry, they want a relationship. They have their differences but
are willing to put it aside in order to get their son to safety. I
also thought some things that the previous book struggled with where
partially remedied in this book. There were actual examples of Ospie
atrocities, actual political intrigue (but I still struggle to fully
grasp what’s going on), and complex motivations that make sense. The
setting was lush and tropical, and again had that 1920s feel with the
film industry and airplanes, but I still struggle with knowing
anything about the world (I don’t even know where half the book takes
place). So while this book does greatly improve from the first one
but it doesn’t take things to the extent that it needs to and I’m
more than a little worried about how the last book is going to go.
Armistice received 4 out 5 stars.
City of Lies by
Sam Hawkin: I wanted this to be a 5 star book. All of the reviews I
read made it seem like it had the potential to be 5 stars, but it
wasn’t. Part of issue might have been how long to took to get through
this book. First I kept putting off reading it because I was worried
that I wouldn’t love it and the beginning chapters were very involved
and were also fairly long. Than in the middle of reading it I had to
put this book on hold so that I could get through other books that I
needed to finish in May. This constant delaying of the book
contributed to the feeling of the plot dragging, but looking back at
the plot itself, there really wasn’t much action after the second
half of this book except for in the last chapter. The whole story
revolves around a murder mystery that begins shortly before the city
is under siege. As our protagonists try to find the killer and stop
the siege they must figure out who is loyal and delve into the dark
secrets of their city. This was a book that had so much potential, it
really could have been a 5 star book. Even as I was going over my tag
notes for about the first quarter of the book I saw a tone of
potential for the world and characters and really saw how nuanced the
story and themes could have been. Then the story starts to drag on
and on and really starts to show it’s true colors as a debut novel.
This all culminates in an extremely lackluster, completely out of
left field climax with one saving grace scene. Everything in the
first quarter of this book was great: the writing was detailed and
intriguing but not overwhelming, the POV characters had some depth,
with their own sets of assets and flaws, and were immediately put to
the test with a change in circumstance, the world was rich and unlike
so much grimdark fantasy that I’ve been reading by portraying that
while there were relevant grievances against those in charge it
wasn’t all bad, and the whole emphasis on poisons was cool. The
mystery for the majority of this book was actually done well, which I
haven’t really seen well done mysteries in SFF books. I was as lost
as the protagonists were, it made sense why they couldn’t figure out
who was behind the conflict of the books, and everyone made for an
equally believable. Then things shifted and for some reason the story
starts to drag on and on, with the same points being reiterated over
and over and no real progress is made, and really starts to show it’s
true colors as a debut novel. Characters lose their depth (and
prominence), the conflict becomes more black and white in morality,
new things are just thrown in with little development, and the
mystery loses its suspense. This all culminates in an extremely
lackluster, completely out of left field climax with one saving grace
scene. I really wanted this to be a 5 star novel but it just wasn’t.
City of Lies received 3.5 out 5 stars and was my pick for the
PopSugar prompt “debut novel.”
Gone by Michael
Grant: Much like City of Lies, Gone was a book that had a 5 star
start. You are immediately thrown into a tense and strange situation
with all the other kids, who are now trapped within a confined area
and everyone over the age of 15 has disappeared. Aside from trying to
survive without adults, new threats emerge in the form of bullies,
mutants, and a mysterious creature known only as The Darkness. I
loved this series as teen, completely wrapped up in the action and
the characters, and was really hoping it would live up to those
expectations. It did, at first. The beginning really grabs you and
doesn’t let go. I didn’t want to put the book down, I needed to read
how everything played out, and I loved that. Things went downhill
when they POV started shifting to less interesting characters and the
story really started to lose its tension. Also as weeks have passed
between me finishing the book, I find myself forgetting most of what
happened and just not being attached to the characters. There were a
few that were compelling but they were put aside for Sam and Caine’s
rivalry which was both clique and not well done. Once the series
started slowing down, it never really recovered and even during a
high stakes climax, which the entire book has been building up to, I
wasn’t as invested in the story as I was at the beginning. Above all
else, this very much felt like a YA book, with the simple writing,
archetypal characters, and underdeveloped plot. Gone received
3 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “about
someone with a superpower.”
The Invisible
Library by Genevieve Cogman: Here it comes, the inevitable 1 star DNF
of the month. Though I will say this book wasn’t bad, it just really
wasn’t for me. While I like warm books, I don’t usually prefer light
hearted books (another reason why I don’t reach for contemporary). I
will, however, still read these books if they fit the following
conditions: they contain certain things within the narrative that I
like, I’m aware that it’s a light hearted story, and I’m in the mood
for a light hearted story. I was not in the mood for that kind of
story nor did I know the book would turn out to be one of those kind
of stories. I went in there for the library bits because I am a book
lover, and I think that is why many people are initially interested
in reading this book. Unfortunately, the Library itself was hardly
seen or utilized from what I read, so that things could focus on a
book retrieval mission, which I found to be both absurd in its
execution and boring. It felt like a bait and switch, intentionally
drawing in readers with the promise of this really cool library that
the story and characters revolved around only for it to actually be
about a wacky retrieval mission and murder mystery in a weird
alternate world. Which is a shame because what we see of the Library
(lots of training with numerous people, vast sectors of different
books from different worlds, the various classifications of different
worlds based on magic/ chaos and technology, ancient meets modern)
was really cool yet is completely underutilized and underdeveloped.
Like, why is it so hard to write a good library setting? Seriously,
the only good one I’ve ever seen was the Clayr Library in Lirael, and
even that was underutilized. It’s not just the bait and switch nature
of the narrative that upset me, but literally everything else in the
book was disappointing. The writing was so zaney, almost trying to
emulate an episode of Doctor Who, and it was so absurd and over the
top that it just grated on my nerves. Like for awhile Cogman seemed
to be deliberately putting Liechtenstein in every other paragraph to
sound clever and funny, but it became very irritating, very quickly.
The world that the characters spend most of their time in could have
been interesting, an alternate Steampunk London (still don’t fully
grasp why Victorian London is such a popular setting) with faries in
it, but it was so focused on being as weird and over the top as
possible that I couldn’t enjoy the world, and we never really get
much of a sense of what any of the other worlds are like. The
character were at best lack luster and at worst irritating. I wanted
to love Irene because she’s a book lover, relies on her smarts, and I
love those kind of characters, but she failed not just as a book
lover but as a character in general. We are told Irene a book lover
but never shown it, and other than her reading a few books, nothing
is really known about her. I don’t know really anything about her
personality, her likes, her dislikes, her history, what she’s like on
missions. I don’t even know what books she prefers to read or her
opinions on various books. She was a very flat character that felt
like a prop in the story. This emptiness is further extended with
her relationships. Her parents are always absent but she’s not
mournful or glad of this fact. She has no attachment to them, in fact
she doesn’t really show attachment to anyone. Like seriously, this
woman seems to have no close friends despite the fact that she works
in a large multi dimensional library with other book lovers. This
again serves to make her come off as more of a cardboard cut out
rather than a fully fleshed out character. The only other
“relationship” we see is this petty rivalry she has with
literally the only other on screen female. It was so annoying
witnessing the only 2 female characters being catty toward each
other. This may improve because the rival seems to stick around up to
the latest book, but I couldn’t stomach it with the rest of the
book’s contents. Despite how disappointing Irene was, Kai, her new
partner, somehow managed to be worse. He was this smoldering guy,
wearing a leather jacket and being incredibly gorgeous. He could have
been interesting because apparently he’s a dragon, or part dragon,
but he’s so forgettable outside of his looks that you have to be
constantly reminded in the story that he is a dragon. The best thing
I can say about him is that he wasn’t a snarky jerk, but he was just
devoid of personality. As far as I got there wasn’t any romance going
between Kai and Irene but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where it
goes. This is a book where characterization, setting, and even plot
are sacrificed in favor of writing in a particular style, and this
felt a little insulting to me as a reader, but mostly the style just
did not mesh well with me. Gave The Invisible Library 1 out 5
stars, since it’s a DNF, and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt
“favorite prompt from past reading challenge,” which asked for a
book that features a library. One day I’ll read a book with a good
library!
Amnesty by Lara
Elena Donnelly: While this wasn’t a bad finale, it was disappointing.
In fact this whole series was disappointing. I thought based on the
covers, and the premise, and other people’s review, the series would
sweep me away with it’s dazzling characters and plot. What should
have been a firework, was a sad a little party popper. This book
takes another time skip and takes place after the Ospie regime is put
out, and follows various characters as the deal with the aftermath of
the previous 2 books. All the issues that have plagued the previous
books in the series were repeated in this one, and I was honestly
over it. Focusing on how tragic mediocre characters are doesn’t work
if I don’t care about them. Even after completing 2 books I didn’t
really know these characters, I didn’t have a grasp of what made them
tick, and I felt no attachment to them. While I was disappointed with
the characters, the worst thing about this book, and really this
entire series, was how the plot and themes were handled. If this book
had focused on the election and all the political turmoil, or even
the effect these events were actually having on citizens, it would
have been a much stronger series. Unfortunately, readers are only
given scraps of that narrative, while the author prioritizes the
melodrama between characters. This is most telling with the climax,
were the results of the current election aren’t divulged, it’s just
left hanging in the void, but several chapters are dedicated to
detailing the journey of 2 characters leaving the country. There were
some interesting themes that had a lot of potential but aside from
giving a few nods to it, there isn’t anything done with them. Lillian
was once again the only source of anything good in this book. It’s
through her that we get the election subplot, and I felt for her
going managing sticky political situations while having to deal with
her brother Cyril who’s been labeled a war criminal. Honestly without
Lillian, this entire series would have been only 1 or 2 stars.
Potential isn’t enough to carry a series, and when execution fails
the end results are disappointing, which sums up not only this book
but this entire series. Amnesty received 2 out 5 stars.
Space Opera by
Catherynne M. Valente: This one is going to be short because there
isn’t a lot to say. I only managed to get about a third of the way
into it, which I haven’t done in years. Whenever I DNF I make an
effort to get 50% of the way through so that the characters or plot
has a chance to improve. The reason I quit at 33% was because my
issues with the book had nothing to do with the characters or plot.
The writing style was awful. It was pure word vomit, overloading the
page with every word that sounded like it could fit, and some that
didn’t. The writing honestly starting resembling a Donald Trump
speech with utilizing the quantity of words used (and how cool they
sounded) versus the actual quality of word usage. It was about at
that point that I had to put the book because I couldn’t take it
anymore and I knew that this was something that was not going to
change as the book progressed. I honestly couldn’t tell you anything
about the characters or the plot, because everything was so weird.
Granted I expected an eclectic writing style based on my experience
with Valente’s other novel, Deathless, and the general premise
of this story, but it was so over the top it was just nauseating and
unbearable. I’ve read a short story of Valente’s and really liked
that, but I just don’t agree with her novels. Space Opera
received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book
about a game or puzzle,” since it’s not about a game exactly but
more about a competition.
Hunger by Michael
Grant: I don’t have much to say about this one for a few reasons. I
hit another mini reading slump because when I was reading this book I
wasn’t reading anything I was enjoying. This lead to me just skimming
like the last half of this book so that it could be over. Even doing
that, though, this book still lacked the level of action that the
first book had set up. Not to say that there wasn’t some significant
things that occurred, but I really think this book suffered from
second book syndrome. This book picks up immediately where the first
book left off, all the kids still trying to survive in the FAYZE with
dwindling resources and Caine recovering from his previous defeat and
plotting against Sam. Most of the book is similar to the first one,
kids being kids and not really managing things and different power
struggles, and once again things being built up just to serve their
purpose in the climax, which I think is the biggest fault of this
book. Nothing was organically developed, the story seemed to drag on
and at slow pace (despite the majority of the book literally taking
place within 24 hours), characters were being stupid and generally
assholes (heroes and villains), and there was a lot of forgettable
material in this book. The saving grace of the previous book was the
strong beginning, which this book lacked. The only saving grace of
this book was that there were some compelling themes, but even that’s
a bit of stretch because they were once again poorly developed. After
finishing this book I was really tempted to quit the whole series,
which is telling of how frustrated I was with this entire book. I
will at some point continue with this series, but I need to take a
little time off after completing this disappointment. Hunger
received 2 out 5 stars.
Tao Te Ching by
Lao Tzu: Close to the beginning of the year I was wanting to read a
classic novel each month to widen the genre of books I read each
month and get back into regularly reading classics like I used to in
high school. I read Little Women, but that was really it. Last
month Barnes and Noble had a sale on classics, so I picked up a
couple that I really wanted to get. This one was the first one I
read, and is actually a reread. I first read it for a literature
course I had to take in college and I really liked. I liked the
soothing tone it set and I found it to be a very thought provoking
classic (even if I didn’t always agree with what it was advocating).
I figured I would probably enjoy rereading it and I think I liked it
even more the second time. It’s got a very serene tone, the
philosophies presented are quite humbling and ones I think should be
implemented in daily life (to certain extent), and it makes in
interesting contrast to Confucianism with both having their virtues
and weaknesses. There was supplemental reading that went along with
the edition that I had, which I definitely think helped improve my
reading experience because it added context to much of what I was
reading. It’s the kind of classic that you can see why it has lasted
so long, and that you can enjoy reading because of it’s simplicity
and calm tone. Tao Te Ching received 5 out 5 stars.
The Lottery by
Shirley Jackson: Initially I intended to read this book in September
to help get ready for the eerie October reads I have planned. Then I
noticed I’m behind on my PopSugar Challenge, so I wanted to do some
quick reads to catch up. I looked up this one to see how long it is
and it’s only 7 pages, so I definitely gave this one a quick read.
There’s a lot you can break down even in this short story, and I like
that. I always like something that gives me food for thought, and
this work in just a few pages manages to do that better than some
works do in over 400 pages. It manages it tackle and satirize themes
of tradition and war, again, in such a small amount of pages.
Suspense was also something done really well, which I did expect
because it’s a Shirley Jackson. At the beginning everything seems
fine but then the story starts building up this sinister feeling
around the lottery until the horrifying reveal of what the lottery
actually is. It’s an intelligent, satirical, chilling piece of short
fiction that I think everyone should read. This book made a brief
appearance on Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House, which is another book
by Jackson I want to get to later this year, but also thought it was
a clever nod to Jackson’s stories, and fits perfectly for the
PopSugar prompt “book you saw someone else on TV reading.” The
Lottery received 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Red Rising by
Pierce Brown: Going into this reread I knew it wasn’t going to be as
good as I remembered. Despite this, and some frustrating aspects, I
still managed to find it somewhat enjoyable. It has a rather generic
dystopian premise, a boy at the bottom of the hierarchy rebelling
against his leaders, there’s something about the story that adds
enough of a breath of fresh air for it to be engrossing. This book’s
greatest strength is definitely it’s action and pacing. I was never
bored while reading it and at least when there was a filler chapter,
it was over quickly. It kept adding new twists and turns, creating
multiple conflicts for the protagonist, Darrow. As for Darrow
himself, he’s a character that I both like and dislike. He’s arrogant
and stupid, but it feels in character and fits quite well for the
series as a whole. He’s generally a well intentioned person who is
fighting for a good cause so you want him to win, but the book does
display him as almost being too perfect. Speaking of which, I didn’t
like most of the side characters, especially the women, because their
entire characterization revolved around Darrow. The core trait of
every woman was that she’s beautiful. Either kind and beautiful or
evil and beautiful but always beautiful. It was really annoying, and
I wanted more from these characters. The only one I liked was Sevro,
who was really an underdog and weirdo, but didn’t seems to care. The
story in this first book is really an underdog story about overcoming
the odds, which is straight forward and something people are both
familiar with and inclined to like. The world was kind of cool, a
sort of Roman Empire in space, that actually felt like the Ancient
Rome and appreciated seeing that. While this book is a bit too
shallow for me to love, it’s a fun, quick read that can help pull you
out of a slump. Red Rising received 3 out 5 stars and was my
first book for the Reading Frenzy Pride Month Buzzword challenge,
which asked you to read a book with a color in the title.
The Queen of the
Tearling by Erika Johansen: Oh boy, this one was a hot mess. Much
like the previous book, I knew I wasn’t going to like this one, in
fact I was almost sure I was going to hate it. Unlike Red Rising,
however, which balanced out things I thought were good with things I
thought could have been improved, this book only had a sparse few
moments of compelling narrative but was jammed full of stuff that
just made me angry. So the series is about Kelsea, a 19 year old who
has been raised in isolation until the day she ascends to the throne.
When she does become queen she discovers that her kingdom is in
massive disarray and full of corruption. As she tries to work and
internal problems and avoid assassination attempts, she also must
address the looming war she will likely have with her powerful and
mysterious neighbor, the Queen of Mort. While, there were several
issues I had with Kelsea (which I will get into in a second) there
were a few good moments with her. As a book lover, I was glad to see
a ruler who wanted to put an emphasis on education, deeply valued her
collection of books, and even worked with the church (which she makes
clear her distrust of) to start something of a library system. That’s
something that I liked not just because of my own love of books but
because it’s good to see a ruler with those values and implementing
them. The other thing was Kelsea ending the Mort Treaty when she
learns what it means for her people. It’s a tricky situation, and one
she probably could have handled better, but I do admire her for
sticking to her morals and doing what she believes is right. Feels a
bit like Danerys Targyern (before she got power hungry). And that’s
about it. That was honestly all I enjoyed about the book. Other than
what I just talked about everything else in this book actively
frustrated me. Characters are very flat, usually either being written
as angsty or evil (and those evils ones always being sluts), the plot
has a ton of holes in it (biggest example being Kelsea raised in
total isolation for 19 years) and generally dragged on with very
little action despite the books length, and the world building was,
in a word, bad. I’m not going into a detailed rant here, talking
about all the issues I had with this book, but there is something I
want to go into a little more depth with and that’s Kelsea herself.
Kelsea has to be one of the worst protagonists I have ever read.
She’s supposed to be intelligent, or at least book smart, yet
consistently makes stupid decisions. She’s a condescending brat who
insults everyone around her, which isn’t a smart idea since she’s a
brand new ruler. Insists on doing everything her way, and has mini
tantrums when it doesn’t go her way. Above all else is her
hypocritical ways and her obsession with her appearance, considering
her attractive mother beneath her for focusing on vanity, but Kelsea
spends most of the time focusing on her own plain appearance (which
is emphasized at every opportunity and usually in the worst way) and
insults other people’s appearance. Also when she’s talking to her
attractive servants who had previously been abused because of their
beauty and they try to warn her of that, she completely disregards
them, only wanting to be gorgeous. Kelsea is the kind of character
this book tries to say is a savior figure, but all the narrative does
is present her as a hypocritical brat that shouldn’t be within a mile
of the throne. I knew this book was going to be bad after reading
some reviews, but I didn’t think it would absolutely tank. The
Queen of the Tearling received 1 out 5 stars.
Wild Beauty by
Anna-Marie McLemore: Going into this one I knew little, only that it
was a magical realism because that’s what McLemore usually writes and
there’s a curse on this family that causes their lovers to disappear
but something changes when a boy shows up. Also you can tell flowers
are going to be a central motif based on the colors and title. The
flower’s provided beautiful imagery and I liked what the meant to the
girls and the land of La Pradera. In fact this novel’s imagery was
probably the best thing about it. It felt distinct, quiet, personal,
lush, and colorful. I also liked the family dynamics in this book.
All these women tied to the land and each other by the curse that has
plagued them for generations. This has the double effect of making
them intimately close with each other, but also dislike and distrust
each other. I felt their pain just as much as I felt their love.
Speaking of love, I also liked Estrella and Fel’s dynamic at the
start (and only at the start) of the book. Fel mysteriously shows up
in their garden, meets Estrella and the 2 quickly develop an odd
connection, both being plagued by their pasts in different ways. For
a little while I wasn’t sure if they were going to become lovers or
platonic soul mates, and that’s what made me like the 2 of them
together because I would be happy with either. I also liked some the
themes presented in the first half of the story and how they were
handled (within the first half). That being said there was one thing
I didn’t like and that was Bay. She was kind of annoying and
artificial, this figure that all the girls put up on this pedestal,
and I honestly found the Nomeolvides girl’s obsession with her (yes
obsession, not love) more than a little irritating. Also Estrella was
really the only one in the group of girls that stood out to me. The
rest were just kind of there, and I would have liked more development
of them. The ending was what really dropped the rating of the book.
Standalone novels are hard to cram a good, complete plot into, and
magical realism tends to sacrifice plot for atmosphere. At the start,
Wild Beauty had a vague plot that was slowly developing but there was
solid direction with good themes and great atmosphere. Then it took a
hard right and the plot seemed to be trying to hard to have something
happen at the price of sacrificing everything else and the message
took a dark and almost destructive meaning, the girls ripping out
everything that makes them who they are. At the end Estrella makes it
clear that she has no sense of self love, in fact she seems to hate
herself even more because of something she wasn’t aware or
responsible for. That left a very bad taste in my mouth. The romance
also seemed to fall apart in the end too. I already went in with
certain expectations, but was still okay with romance. At the end,
Estrella’s self hatred seems to add an unnecessary amount of angst,
and even has a toxic feel to it. It also feels very rushed, though I
can’t say exactly why. This was a pleasant novel with a solid start
that unfortunately was bogged down by an unnecessarily depressing and
empty ending. Wild Beauty received 3 out of 5 stars and was my
pick for the PopSugar prompt “plant in title or on cover.”
The Invasion of
the Tearling by Erika Johansen: Not since last year have I read a
series that has made me so enraged. This series is an amalgamation of
lazy, generic world building, toxic tropes, and ripping off of other
popular works. There’s honestly too many issues in this book to
properly go over in a Monthly Wrap Up. There did manage to be a few
slightly redeemable aspects but even those were tainted by the rest
of the writing. Kelsea started to develop interesting parallels to
the Red Queen, but Kelsea became on awful character who showed her
true colors. She’s petty, violent, doesn’t listen to anyone, and
isn’t as bright as she likes to think she is, yet other praise her as
being the True Queen. Also having read the final book, I know that
things don’t get better, which makes me dislike her even more. The
only other character that remotely stands out in my mind is Lily, a
character from our world shown in flashbacks. Her narrative is
basically a Handmaid’s Tale rip off, but she at least seems to have a
little more drive. The other character I thought I would like was
Ewen, a mentally slow prison guard because he’s a sweet bean who
always does what is right, but he didn’t stand out to me as much this
time. This book also really pushes the anti religion message. This
could be an interesting theme, because religion and those in charge
are capable of doing both good and bad, but it’s done in such a black
and white manner that all good will of the message Johansen is trying
to deliver goes flying out the door. This one’s arguably my least
favorite book in the series, just because I was so mad after reading
it. It’s just another example of why I’m always cautious about hyped
books, because they are rarely worth the hype they get. The
Invasion of the Tearling gets 1 out 5 stars.
Golden Son by
Pierce Brown: I was a bit surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I
did. Not that I thought I would dislike it, but this book still
managed to get a reaction from me. Continuing a year after the events
of the previous book, Darrow must maintain his persona as a Gold
while hiding his true heritage as a Red. With mounting tension
between various faction, war seems to be an inevitable outcome. The
start was slow and a bit painful, there was some convoluted moments,
but the book overall keeps up the momentum that the previous book
developed. This was also the book that made me respect Brown as an
author. Darrow still has the same flaws, because that’s just who he
is, but now he’s starting to see consequences. The themes become more
developed, mostly focusing on the fine line between revolution and
terrorism, imbalance of power leading to civil war, and breaking
caste systems. Brown also clearly tried to develop the side
characters more, especially the females. However this ultimately
falls a bit short and I think the main reason for that is because the
entire story is told from Darrow’s perspective, who is seeing the
world and people through his own distorted filter. That specific
element is I think biggest fault this series has. On a good note, the
ending of this book was without a doubt the best moment of this
entire series, it’s the darkest moment and was done perfectly. Even
knowing what happened, I was still shaking from the anticipation.
It’s a book with enough solid assets to balance out the flaws, and is
possibly my favorite book in the series. Golden Son received
3.5 out 5 stars and was my second book for the Reading Frenzy’s Pride
Buzzword Challenge.
The Fate of the
Tearling by Erika Johansen: I’m worn out by this series. I knew I was
going to hate this book because even when I first completed the
series and still liked the first 2 books, I thought this one was
incredibly disappointing. I skimmed most of this book, and outright
skipped sections in a certain characters perspective, because I just
wanted to complete this series. Like honestly the story repeats the
same issues as the previous books with new issues in pacing (moving
very rapidly), character arcs (stagnates and does nothing), the
ending (huge cop out), the origins of the “magic” crystals
(confusing and just doesn’t work) and the villains. The main villain
was actually the one interesting thing about this story because he
could have been this eerie mysterious force or could have been at the
center of a compelling conflict about power and politics, and he just
wasn’t. He was irritating brat who thought way too highly of himself
(spurned on by his nut case of a mother) and is another reflection of
the poor writing that plagues this entire series. I didn’t actively
hate this book like the previous one but that’s only because I was
tired from this series. This is a series where I honestly don’t
understand the hype and don’t know why I liked it so much the first
time I read it other than the hype. Disappointing book and sub par
series. The Fate of the Tearling received 1 out 5 stars.
I absolutely love blue covers. I don’t
know why put I just generally gravitate toward them, and I don’t
think it’s just me because many series I’ve read have a blue cover in
them. Out of all the blue covers I’ve read I picked ones that are the
most standout to me, generally tie into the story itself, and that I
find aesthetically pleasing, irregardless of the contents.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo:
I love almost all of the covers of Bardugo books, and while I have a
soft spot for the Six of Crows cover, this one is arguably my
favorite of them because it’s blue. But not just average sky blue.
It’s like the teal blue you would see in the sea, or with a precious
stone. I love everything in the background too, the castle with the
classic Russian orthodox domes and the silver sea serpent that
weaves to create the title heading, the subtle scale design that
resembles fish. It all pulls together well, and is one my personal
favorite covers, let alone favorite blue covers.
2. Like A River Glorious by Rae
Carson: This series as a whole was disappointing to say the least.
I’m only still holding onto it for 2 reasons. One is that they are
Rae Carson books and I loved Carson’s first series and don’t hate
this series enough to immediately get rid of it. The second reason
is the covers, which are without a doubt the best thing about the
books. The first book really sets the tone of what the series is
about, with a black or dark brown background helping bring out all
the gold colors. This cover doesn’t tie into the story as well, but
the vivid refreshing blue colors does feel like a cover and you can
see speckles of gold in there, plus the girl at the top is wearing a
blue outfit and the sunrise on the mountains. It’s a very pretty and lush cover, and a real shame
that the story couldn’t match the quality of the cover.
3. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by
Richard Bach: I like this cover due to it’s simplicity. Just a navy
blue background with a white graphic of a seagull. It’s
straightforward, no nonsense, yet is still pretty and rather
profound (much like the story itself). I almost picked American
Gods for similar reasons, but I thought the seagull was a more
appropriate image for the cover than the tree was for the American
Gods cover (though I do understand why it’s there).
4. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth
Pfeffer: If anyone were to ask me what the most serene setting is, I
would pull up this cover as one of my answers. I just get very calm
looking at it. With a single house surrounded by a snow cover field,
a bright clear sky with a full moon, really conveys a quiet, almost
isolated tone.
5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys:
Now there’s 2 different covers for this book. There’s the paperback
version with different pairs of shows, and there the hardback
version with an ocean background a 4 life preservers. I prefer the
hardback edition because while I do now understand the significance
of the shoes, I immediately get what the narrative and tone will be.
It’s a beautiful shot of the ocean that has a rather haunting feel
to it. Each life preserver represents a different POV, and each one
is significant in different ways. It’s a beautiful blue nature
setting, the kind of picture you would honestly expect to see in a
magazine like National Geographic.
For a long time I did not DNF books.
The concept was something that was just so foreign to me. Even if I
was hating a book, I pushed through it, for better or worse. As I’ve
gotten busier in life and my TBR list continues to grow, I just don’t
have the time or energy to read books I dislike. I will push through
to make it to the halfway point, but if I get to that point and
nothing’s improved and I don’t see anything improving than I quit the
book. Over the past 2 years, I’ve accumulated more than enough books
to do a Top 5 DNF list, so I picked the top 5 worst. The ones that
made me mad, the ones that have deeply disappointed me, the ones that
will always stand out in my mind for all the wrong reasons.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John
Mendel: This is the only book is in the #1 spot by sheer virtue of
being the only DNF that I couldn’t make it even half way through. I
really have been looking for a good soft apocalypse story for years,
and everyone had been hyping this book as the best book of the
summer, so I gave it a try and I hated it. I thought the characters
were unbearable, there was a general lack of any story or action,
and I personally did not like the flashbacks. I think even if this
book hadn’t been over hyped, I still wouldn’t have liked it.
2. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray: I
don’t know how I made it 80% of the way through the book because I
can’t think of anything good about it. Unlike the other books, where
I can usually pinpoint the one thing I hated, I hated everything
about this book. Any potential that the first book had for the
series was obliterated in this book. The 4 girls were honestly such
petty, idiotic brats who were focused on gaining more power and
doing things they explicitly been told not to do (seriously I think
these girls had a death wish) or internal squabbles among the group.
In fact these girls were actually incredibly toxic toward each other
(not that any of the side female characters were any better). The
plot dragged on and on, and when there was action all it did was
highlight how selfish and stupid all the characters were. The world
could have been interesting but was shown through the lens of these
awful girls who were blind to everything around them, and only
served to show that any woman vying for power will only do awful
things, which really goes against the initial theme of this series.
Can you tell how much I hated the 4 central girls?
3. Daughters of the Storm by Kim
Wilkins: This is another book that just made me mad. I went into it
with certain expectations, the biggest ones being that this would
focus on the bonds between 5 sisters and that it was a standalone
with a simple straight forward quest. Turns out it wasn’t a
standalone, so the plot dragged on and on, with no action. That
wouldn’t have killed the book if the characters were good, but they
were awful. They were all trash, except for maybe Rose. Ash was a
gloomy, flaky character. Ivy was an obnoxious, lazy flirt who caused
so much unnecessary drama. Willow was a creepy zealot, and Bluebell.
Don’t get me started on Bluebell. She was a character I was actively
rooting for her be killed, yet she lived, got what she wanted, and
got the most screen time. Between this book and Rebel Angels, I have
never seen a more deplorable cast of characters accompanied by a
boring, lack luster story.
4. The White Princess by Philippa
Gregory: So all the picks above I hated because they had awful
characters and little narrative. While this one did have that, that
isn’t why I hated this book. When I read a historical fiction I
either want a very personal narrative about how the times and events
shape a person and their life, or I want a detailed story describing
others behind the scenes involvement (would be great if I got both).
This book failed to deliver on either. The main character was
clueless, wishy washy, and had no involvement in any of the action
despite her position. This was a book that failed to deliver for the
genre that it is.
5. When She Woke by Hilary Jordan:
This book didn’t make me mad so much as disappointed. It was
initially pitched as a futuristic retelling of The Scarlet Letter,
one of my favorite classics. I thought it would be an introspective
look at several moral dilemma’s plaguing society and individuals.
I’m not quite sure what story this was trying to tell, but it felt
like a poor mesh between The Scarlet Letter and The Handmaid’s Tale,
2 books that I really like. I think the book tried too hard to be
the modern Scarlet Letter, yet seemed to miss the underlying themes
of it, plus I read that the second book took some weird turns. It’s
disappointing because not only did it fail to live up to a classic,
it failed to stand up as it’s own book.
For the past few
months I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. The majority of the
books I’ve been reading were either mediocre or bad, with very few
good books. It got to the point where last month I wanted to spend
this month just focusing on books that I wanted to read and going
back to focusing on fantasy or science fiction reads. Despite the
low average ratings for the month, and the fact that I only completed
1 “challenge” book, which is unusually low for me, I actually
don’t feel that I had a bad month. I’ve come to terms with the fact
that I won’t be able to read as many books as I had at the beginning
of the year, but as long as I can get through 5 books a month I’ll be
fine. I did have to put “challenge” books or rereads on hold, but
it was to get to other books that I really wanted to complete this
month. The majority of the books were some kind of fantasy read, and
while that definitely helped none of them were the highlight of the
month. That honor actually goes to my completed “challenge” book
and the 1 historical fiction of this month. In fact I loved that book
so much that I gave it 5 stars. For next month I want to stick to my
initial reading schedule of 3 books at a time, so that I can get
through more challenge books and rereads since that I only did 1
challenge books and 1 reread. I also want to see if I can maybe read
1 classic a month, since I purchased a couple I’ve really wanted to
read.
Angelfall by Susan
Ee: This was my third time reading Angelfall, and because I enjoyed
it so much, not once but twice, I thought I would enjoy it this time.
That didn’t happen, and the reason why became apparent pretty soon.
This book falls victim to a lot of tropes seen commonly in YA, and
doesn’t handle them well. I like the premise of the novel, a teenager
trying to save her crippled younger in an apocalyptic wasteland
ravaged by angels. This book is fairly action driven and things
progress at a fairly quick pace, which was both appropriate to the
narrative and was one of the better aspects of the book itself.
Penryn, the protagonist, actually started out as a solid character.
She a competent fighter, who has years of training to back up any
tough talk she delivers, and even saves Raffe multiple times at the
beginning of the novel. While at first glance she might appear to be
a typical YA protagonists, she at least has the skills and results to
distinguish her. Towards the end though, she started doing some
stupid things and was clearly relying more on Raffe to handle things,
which was clearly being used as a way to force in a romance. So yeah,
started out good, but slowly became an irritating characters. Raffe
on the other hand is a very generic paranormal YA love interest and I
really didn’t like him. He’s hunky, broody, snarker and there really
isn’t anything to him other than that. His banter with Penryn felt so
awkward because it felt out of character for him, but it also made
him come across as an arrogant ass. There’s a lot of emphasis put on
how sexy he is, which on top of being annoying, is the cause of all
the girl on girl hate in this book. Literally every female that isn’t
in her family that Penryn meets only serves as her competitor for
Raffe’s attention, and I f**king hated it. Also despite being an
angel I would honestly bet Penryn is more likely to survive because
there are several instances throughout the novel that Raffe comes off
as naive and flat out stupid. I liked Penryn and Raffe’s relationship
the first couple times I read it because it seemed like just a tense
partnership and nothing more. Now it’s very obvious that this is
going to be a hate to love forbidden romance, which, again, is super
common in YA and I personally am sick of seeing those type of
relationships. I felt zero chemistry between the 2, and especially
hated how Raffe regarded Penryn for the majority of the book. Yet at
the end they realize they love each other only to be separated and
it’s oh so tragic. Gag! I think if they had just stuck with a
partnership built on mutual respect then I would have felt at least
something between them. The rest of the characters are just kind of
there as one dimensional set pieces so I neither got attached to
them, nor really liked them (with one exception). As I stated at the
beginning, and have illustrated through the rest of this review, this
book really relies on overused tropes. There some tropes I like, but
none are present here and there are a few present that I dislike.
Hate to love, forbidden romance (at least no Insta Love), absent
parents, pure younger sister, brooding love interest that’s actually
a paranormal creature, a warrior type female protagonist, a brewing
revolution. It was just too much. I think what weighed this book down
the most for me, aside from how tropey it was, is the fact that I
know where the rest of the series goes and things really go downhill.
Penryn goes from strong survivor to damsel in distress (which I saw a
bit of at the end of this book), a full romance blooms between Penryn
and Raffe, characters I don’t like or think were poorly done get a
lot more screen time, and the book suddenly shifts from a simple
story of survival and a rescue mission to being like every other YA
dystopia and focus on saving the world. While this book did
disappoint me, it did posses a few redeemable qualities and is a
decent book to read if you want quick action or find yourself in a
slump. Angelfall received 2 out 5 stars.
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly:
Going into Amberlough I thought it would be a book I liked because
it’s supposed to have a lot of political intrigue, an alternate art
deco setting, and eclectic characters. Sadly this book fell apart
pretty quickly for me, to the point where I had a hard time
motivating myself to pick it up than skimming over the last third of
the book because I just wanted it to be over. All of the things I
expected in the narrative were almost entirely absent, and everything
from the plot to the characters to the setting even was kept at a
surface level with nothing beneath it and not only was that bad in
itself, it also ruins the climax. The characters were clearly what
was supposed to drive the story because there was a lot of focus put
on their lives and interactions and there was very little plot.
However the characters were almost all flat with little to no
development, and one of the POV characters could even be omitted from
the story without changing the narrative or it’s outcome. Based off
the reviews I read Cyril is everyone’s least favorite POV character,
but I thought he was actually the strongest. Cyril is definitely an
unlikeable character, he’s spineless and self serving, his actions
lead to bad consequences, and even kills a boy that was trying to
help him. He is completely governed by his sense of self
preservation, BUT I at least get a sense of identity from him and
actually think he makes a good topic of discussion. Again, he’s not a
good person but given the circumstances I do think he’s a compelling
character which by default makes him the best character, in my
opinion. Aristide was a disappointment because he showed the most
promise at the start but then nothing is really done with him. I mean
he’s a gay, flamboyant drag queen that performs at the Bumble Bee but
also works as a smuggler. He has a stutter but it turns out this is
only a front to hide something about him. Sounds pretty cool right,
however, there isn’t any depth to him. I don’t know his history. I
don’t know why or even how he does the things he does. All I know
about him is just what I’ve stated, so I can’t really get attached
to, or even like, a character that doesn’t have any depth even though
I want to like him. I may get some hate for what I’m about to say but
in my opinion Cordelia was by far the worst POV character. Her part
of the narrative could have been omitted all together and the story
would have held up, and the fact that this is also the only female
POV just adds insult to injury. She’s an incredibly generic
character: this girl that grew up in the dregs who has lived a hard
life but still has a heart of gold (which I never really see any
example of that), she goes around and gets it from different guys.
There was just nothing compelling or even distinguishing about her
and it’s a shame because she could have provided a good pedestrian
narrative about an average person having to adapt to an oppressive
new regime, but that’s not what we get. Also she’s a dancer but again
that’s something about her character that is easily forgettable.
There’s also a ton of side characters that are forgettable which
negatively impacts the story by making it both more confusing
(because I couldn’t keep straight who was who) and when stuff starts
happening to these people at the end, I just didn’t care and that’s
not the reaction I was supposed to have. This ties into the larger
issue of the overall conflict of the story. The world of Gedda is
blatantly based off of our world, with no magic or new technology
being filtered into the story. The only difference is in geography
and names. This really becomes a problem when the main antagonists,
the One State Party, or Ospies, are presented. I knew going into this
book that this political party is the Amberlough equivalent of Nazis.
Knowing this fact is the only the only thing that makes me root
against the Ospies, but even then I didn’t really care what the
outcome was because I didn’t feel any attachment to Amberlough or the
people their. Yes Amberlough is in stark contrast to the Ospies
because of it’ diversity but I don’t get any emotional attachment to
it or it’s identity because I have no attachment to the characters.
Also for the majority of the book, we don’t see or hear what makes
the Ospies such a threat, we only get a vague impression that they’re
bad. It’s until the last quarter the book when Ospies show their
violent streak, but by then it’s too late (both for the characters
and me as a reader). Instead of stuffing the rest of the book up with
chaotic filler, there should have been time spent creating action to
show each characters depth and grit, as well as what makes the Ospies
such a bad threat that people don’t want in Amberlough, or taking
quite moments like there was at the very beginning of the novel to
create a stronger sense of identity in Amberlough and stronger
dynamics between each character. This book could have been an
interesting “calm before the storm story” and while the story did
get better it was way too little, too late and ultimately the book
did not deliver on any of premise’s that I expected from this book.
The only reason I did not DNF it is because I have the rest of the
series that I do plan on reading in the hopes that it gets better.
Amberlough received 1 out 5 stars.
Heart of Betrayal
by Mary E. Pearson: Even though I didn’t love the first book, I knew
I was going to complete the rest of the series. My pen pal in the
Netherlands recently finished Kiss of Deception and had the rest of
the series on hand, and we’ve been wanting to do a buddy read
together for awhile. So we both agreed that completing the rest of
The Remnant Chronicles together would be a great idea. The story
picks up immediately where it left off in the first book. Lia arrives
in Venda and must survive a dangerous game that the Komizar is
forcing her to play. Meanwhile Rafe has also been captured and hides
his true identity while plotting his and Lia’s escape and Kaden must
grapple with his conflicting loyalties. Lia was probably the best
part of this book because even though she had a few frustrating
moments, especially at the beginning, I could see her grow into a
more capable person and enjoyed seeing her rely on her wits to
survive being imprisoned by a man who is both ruthless and cunning.
There’s also her growing faith and strong morals which help guide her
through the darkness. Rafe was okay, there just really isn’t much to
talk about him aside from his relationship with Lia and the loyalty
his men feel toward him, both of which show he’s a good royal. Kaden
on the other hand was a bit frustrating, he kept going back and
forth, just being indecisive about where his loyalties lie, and was
only wanting to help Lia because he’s attracted to her. However I
liked that his relationship with the Komizar was complex and that
there’s more to him than there initially seemed to be. I struggled a
bit with the world in this one. I liked worlds that feel realistic,
that feel fully developed on a personal and practical level. While
all the texts involving Morrighan and Venda and Gaudrel were kind of
interesting, they weren’t expanded on outside of being a plot device.
Also this entire world feels like a watered down grimdark fantasy
(ruled exclusively by men, generic medieval world, all courts
festering with corruption, Venda being full of atrocities against
their own people) and I just did not like that because A) I hate how
depressing grimdark B) it felt underdeveloped to the point of being
lazy. Kiss of Deception made me think that there would be a
more in depth exploration of the world and the history which would be
relevant to the plot in an unexpected way (kind of like The Girl of
Fire and Thorns series), but it doesn’t do that and I was definitely
disappointed. Also, I have an issue with the women in this book. They
weren’t bad (except for Gwenyth and Pauline who I just found to be
irritating) but they only existed as disposable side characters to
further Lia’s narrative. As time passes I find myself forgetting more
and more of this book except for Lia, but I still think it was an
okay book. The Heart of Betrayal received 3 out 5 stars.
The Beauty of
Darkness by Mary E. Pearson: Despite this book between 600 and 700
pages, I managed to finish it in 2 days. I was very motivated to
finish it. Now having completed the entire Remnant Chronicles I can
definitely say that it’s a series that improves with each book. This
book left a more lasting impact on me, but was still had plenty of
forgettable moments and there were issues that I had over the whole
series. Rafe and Lia have now escaped Venda but must flee to Dalbrech
if they have a chance of withstanding the Komizar’s oncoming army.
Also Lia must now return to her own court and root out the corruption
within. Everything reaches it’s climax in this finale book and while
think many of the story threads were concluded well, especially
character arcs, there were a few things that I felt the ending was
bit rushed for like in the last book. Rafe and Lia were absolutely
the highlight of this series, and this book really allowed them to
reach their full potential. I loved seeing them grow as individuals,
as leaders, and as romantic partners. I personally like arranged
marriages growing into love, and this was an example of one done well
because of the various struggles that they face. The final battle
was probably the biggest disappointment of the series. While it did
need to happen, if only to fulfill a prophecy (which I have issues
with), but I thought everyone already had a decent close to their arc
and the battle kind of went against what the series had previously
set up both in terms of conflict and character. While the series
itself is a decent, more romance heavy, YA fantasy series, but I
thought this was a solid finale. The Beauty of Darkness
received 4 out 5 stars.
Into the Drowning
Deep by Mira Grant: I’d like for one month to go by without me
reading a 1 star book. After reading Feed in February (or was it
January) I was hesitant to read any other science fiction by Seanan
McGuire (uses pen name Mira Grant for her science fiction works) but
Into the Drowning Deep seemed interesting, with an undersea
expedition trying to find out what happened to the previous vessel
that traveled to this area and possibly discovering if mermaids are
real. So I saved this book specifically for May to do the MerMay
challenge (reading mermaid books in May) and it is without a doubt
the biggest disappointment of the month. I ended up DNFing this at
50%, and after looking at reviews and spoilers for this book, I don’t
regret not continuing with it. This book feature’s many things that
I’ve noticed McGuire putting in her books, irregardless of genre. Now
these things aren’t bad per say but a lot of them felt unnecessary to
the point of being annoying, and the fact that McGuire seems to
struggle expanding outside of familiar territory is also a bit
annoying. Let’s start with the setting, California. I don’t know
about the Wayward Children, but every other book I’ve read by MCGuire
is set in California. I get that it’s her home state and what she’s
familiar with, but really does every book need to be set in
California. Even this one could have started out in any coastal
region. The rest of the book takes place in the Marina Trench, and I
kind of wish the book had started here because it already gives a
claustrophobic setting and a submarine’s a pretty unique setting,
with flashbacks bring used to tell people’s life before they were on
the mission. The majority of the story takes place in the future, in
the year 2022. McGuire also did this in Feed, and while it
makes some sense in Feed, it makes no sense here. There’s nothing
different about the world and there is no need for a large time gap.
It’s minor but it’s still really annoying because of how unnecessary
it is. Siblings are another thing that McGuire frequently puts in
books and this one has both good and bad examples. Good examples
include the sibling bonds in the Wayward Children series and the
Stewart siblings in this book. Bad examples include the sibs from
Feed and the other set of
sisters in this book whose names I’m forgetting. While one of the
Stewart sisters is killed at the beginning, we still get impressions
of what their relationship was like and it’s clear that Tory’s still
grieving over her sister because she wants to go on the same
dangerous mission for closure. The other sisters are introduced a
third of the way through the story and I know nothing about them as
individuals or what how they interact with each other (also didn’t
help that one of them made the dumbest decision I read in the story).
So McGuire can write good sibling relationships but it’s irritating
when she doesn’t. Some of McGuire’s more recent works feature a
diverse group of characters, like the Wayward Children series which I
love in part because of it’s diversity and how various issues are
both presented and dealt with because of the diversity. Into
the Downing Deep is also
supposed to be diverse but unlike in Wayward Children series it
doesn’t feel natural. The diversity here feels like it’s put in just
so that there is diversity, and to be honest I can’t even pick up on
the sources of said diversity. There’s sign language, which I don’t
think I’ve seen before in written fiction, but nothing is done with
it (at least as far as I got). There’s a lesbian character, but there
weren’t any hints of her being a lesbian until almost half way
through the story, so it very much felt like it came out of left
field. There might also be a physically disabled person but it’s
really unclear, and those are about the only sources of diversity
that I could find. Maybe I was missing something or didn’t get far
enough into the book, but I would not say this book is a source of a
diverse cast. Also speaking of a large cast, I hated this cast, not
because they were bad, but because they were poorly written. At first
we’re introduced to Tory and given her back story and an
understanding of her personality and why she would go on this
expedition, but then there’s a ton of new characters introduced all
at once who aren’t given the same depth as Tory, but are now given
equal amount of time. It was really hard to keep track of who was
who, and I really just didn’t care because I didn’t know these
characters like I did Tory. If the book wanted to have a large cast
of characters it should have taken it’s time and let us get to know
them instead of cramming them all in at once when we’re a third of
the way through the book. I think the book honestly should have
focused solely on Tory so that I could be fully invested in her story
and the outcome of it. McGuire also seems to like mysteries but I
don’t think she does them well. I definitely think she does a better
job when they’re in a fantasy context, like in the October Daye
series, but I hated the mystery in her science fiction novel Feed
because it was so predictable.
At the beginning the book sets itself up to have a potentially good
mystery that could span the entire book. This potential is
immediately obliterated by explicitly telling the readers that
mermaids are real and are the cause of all this underwater
devastation. That immediately takes a huge chunk of the tension out
of the story because now the characters are coming across as willfull
idiots. This could have been recovered if once mermaids were
discovered the crew was both cautious and clearly making signs to
study them. This didn’t happen, instead I just have characters
spouting facts about mermaids as if they’ve known mermaids were real
and have studied them for years, which was jarring to say the least.
They’re an alien species you’ve just discovered, you need to work
from the ground up to understand them but also need to be careful
because they have clearly proven themselves to be vicious killers.
The way the “mystery” was handled and the lack of scientific
investigation were frustrating because now I have nothing keeping me
invested in the story, and it’s not like it got any better. After
learning what had happened at the ending, I honestly thought it made
no sense based on the evidence presented in the first half of the
book and the fact that there was no hinting of it at all. The only
good thing at all in the entire book was a few short paragraphs that
did make the situation tense because there’s an understanding that
something awful is about to happen or already happened. These
moments, however, are watered down by everything else in the story
which I’ve already made clear I hated. At one point I wanted to try
all of McGuire’s works, and I’ll still try her major fantasy series,
but I’m not going to reading anymore of her science fiction works.
Into the Drowning Deep
received 1 out 5 stars.
Salt to the Sea by
Ruta Sepetys: Now we go from the lowest point of the month to the
highest point of the month. I had heard good things about this book
and author but I’ve had a streak of historical fictions that have
disappointed me, so I was worried about how this book would turn out.
In fact this one had been on my TBR list the longest and I just kept
putting it off again and again. May came around I couldn’t put this
book off any more because this was the only book I wanted to read
that fit the Reading Frenzy’s “May Buzzword Challenge.” This was
a book I flew through, not just because of time constraints but also
because of how good the story was. It’s about Operation Hannibal
(which occurs near the end of WWII) and is told through 4 different
points of view. Joana, a nurse who’s originally from Lithuania.
Florian, a German solider on a mysterious “mission.” Emilia, a
young Polish refuge, and Alfred, a Nazi sailor. What I love about
these characters is that the book managed to make them real and you
really see who they are (for better or worse) and the effect that the
war has on each of them. It’s a book that shows how dark and grim a
war is because of it’s affect on all people, especially civilians,
but there is still light in the narrative. You see some the
characters become very attached to each other and start to regard one
another as a found family, which makes their deaths all the more
devastating. This also shows the atrocities that both sides, the
Germans and Russians, commit. The Nazi’s are awful in their
prejudices and we repeatedly get examples of that, especially with
Alfred and Florian, but the Russians are also doing terrible things,
like killing refugee’s and raping women. Operation Hannibal and the
ship Wilhelm Gustloff were actual parts of history that I wasn’t even
aware about and that’s another thing I appreciate about this novel.
It takes place during a very familiar time period but focuses on one
explicit event that isn’t as well known as events like Pearl Harbor
or D-Day, but is no less important. I honestly loved everything about
this book. The characters, the setting, and just the raw emotion that
this book delivered. I’ll definitely be picking up Septys other
books, and I am so glad I finally read this one. Salt to the Sea
received 5 out 5 stars and along with being my May Buzzword Challenge
book also fits the PopSugar prompts “book title with the words
‘bitter,’ spicy,’ or 'salty,” and “clothing on the cover,”
since the paperback edition has pairs of shoes on the cover.
This was a very difficult topic to
discuss. Not only is it a sensitive topic because of how many people
can struggle with their mental health but also because it’s a topic
that I think should be talked about but I’m not exactly qualified to
do that. I also wasn’t sure to what extent mental health needed to be
featured, if it needed to be the focus of the story or if it just
needed to be present. All of my entries feature protagonists that I
think has mental health issues, and I will try my best to dissect the
problems the protagonist must deal with and how this impacts the
character and the story.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: This
one makes the top of the list for a few reasons. It is a book that
entirely revolves around the protagonist, Esther, dealing with her
depression, and it’s also the one I can talk about best because
depression is something I deal with myself. This is a book that
really resonates with me and I think does a good job at capturing
what it feels like to have depression. It’s this heavy emptiness
that weighs down on you and leaves you in an immobile state. No
motivation to do anything because it’s pointless. Having your whole
life set before you only for it to be ripped away. Comparing
yourself to others and coming to the conclusion you’ll always be
second best. Being overwhelmed by life itself and being unsure of
what to do. These are all things that I’ve experience myself and do
usually trigger my depression. I like this book because it
understood me, but it also shows the effect that the lack of a care
of mental health can have negative effects on people. Many
professionals are dismissive because the character is a woman, but
their only solution seems to be to subject her to electric shock
therapy treatments, which just sounded terrifying and doesn’t work
because they aren’t addressing the cause of the problem. By the end
of the book, the protagonist doesn’t seem to have improved at all,
she’s just become better at hiding her issues because that’s the
only way the rest of society will accept her. Granted she does seem
to slightly improve by doing things she wasn’t able to do before.
There’s also a connection between Esther’s depression and the
pressure to be a married and a mother, and while I can’t connect to
that part but it does make for good discussion material. Undoubtedly
my interpretations of this novel are colored by my own personal
experience, but it is a poignant novel about depression and
conforming to society ideals.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne
Collins: It may be a little surprising that this book is on this
list, but when it popped in my head I realized that it really fit.
While the primary focus of this book is on the revolution, it also
takes time to analyze and satirize many things about our current
culture (something the movies forget to do entirely), including how
damaging war is to a persons psyche. Katniss suffers from PTSD, even
before the Hunger Games has actually started. She has nightmares
about her Dad being blown up and because of this death had to grow
up very quickly to ensure that her family didn’t starve to death
because her mother was in catatonic state. As a result she comes off
as very cold, trusting very few people, and seems to be desensitized
to the injustices of her world and only cares if it affects her
family, but she’s also very resilient and a capable survivor. Both
during and after the Hunger Games, Katniss’s PTSD only gets worse as
the world around her becomes more unstable and now she must watch
those she cares about actually get killed. It reaches a breaking
point in the third book where the majority of the story has a very
dazed, depressing tone because Katniss has basically checked out of
life, suffers frequent episodes of depression, and keeps herself on
morphine. She’s even seeing a therapist, because it’s that bad.
Let’s not forget that she’s just a teenager being thrust into a war
that she didn’t want to be a part of, which is guaranteed to screw
up any kid. The trauma is so severe that even years after the war,
when Katniss has kids, she still suffers from nightmares. Her
recovery is an active process that takes years, but Katniss does
little thing to remind herself that there is good in the world, like
making the memorial book. Plus she has a good husband who
understands what she’s been through. War and trauma are serious
things that have long reaching consequences and takes effort to
recover from, and the way that The Hunger Games series demonstrates
this is part of the reason it’s become something of a modern
classic.
3. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava
Dellaira: Much like the entry above, this one is also about
overcoming trauma. Unlike The Hunger Games though, it’s on a much
more personal level and the story focuses more on the trauma and
grief and even guilt that the protagonist, Laurel, has suffered. The
source of her suffering stems from her relationship with her older
sister, who has recently perished. Laurel idolized her older sister,
so much so that she tries to emulate her at the start of the book
and it comes off as cringe worthy. This idolization was unhealthy
and unrealistic but also didn’t give the complete picture. Laurel’s
relationship with her sister both before and after her death was,
complicated to say the least, and this has a strong impact on who
Laurel is, but Laurel eventually comes to terms with the fact that
both she and her sister are flawed and that isn’t a bad thing. Also
smothering your suffering doesn’t make it better, or go away, and
it’s good to get help from people you know and trust. This book is
similar to Perks of Being a Wallflower but I picked this one
because it has a more positive and hopeful ending with recovering
from trauma, which I felt Perks of Being a Wallflower lacked.
4. Eliza and Her Monsters by
Francesca Zappia: The protagonist in this book, Eliza, appears to
suffer from social anxiety. As a result she struggles with
relationships in the real world but seems to do well with internet
relationships. After a new boy arrives at her school and starts to
open up more to him. So there are thing I like about this one and
there are things I don’t like about this one. I don’t like the fact
that it was this new boy who’s obviously going to be the love
interest and only him that Eliza opens up to because it makes her
growth feel more artificial. I like that the online friendships were
treated as genuine ones because that’s something that is both
topical and can be a good way for people with social anxiety to
interact. I don’t feel that Eliza really grew as a person. Yes she
starts going to therapy which I think could be helpful, but she
still doesn’t open up even to her own family and this is after her
brothers confronted their parents about the big mistake they made
and how it’s going to negatively impact Eliza’s online experience,
which does lead into the other thing I liked about this book. Eliza
can be selfish at times. She’s put herself in bubble so that her
entire world revolves around her, which is a very human thing to do,
but even when the people she is closest with are clearly struggling
all she wants to focus on is her own issues. This happened several
times throughout the narrative, and I appreciate for being there
because it highlights the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around
you and part of being a better person is striking that balance
between caring for yourself and caring for others close to you.
Unfortunately this still made Eliza an unlikable character because
she never realizes that she’s at fault. This is definitely a decent
book for talking about social anxiety or internet culture, but I
can’t say it’s great because of the protagonist and romance.
5. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: I
actually forgot about this one because it was a required reading
that I did in college, but it was actually one of two reads I
enjoyed that semester. Like most of the other entries on this list,
the protagonist suffers from PTSD during a time when PTSD wasn’t
really a thing (he’s a recently returned WWII veteran). He’s also
half Caucasian and half Native American, which has made him an
outsider his entire life, even among his own family. This was a
beautifully written novel that also focuses on recovery, but in a
very spiritual way where the protagonist learns to be accepting of
himself and cutting out the toxic aspects of his life, like
violence.
I had to cheat on this topic a little
because I own very few green covers, let alone emerald (the only way
this topic could have been harder was if they asked for purple
covers). That being said, I did manage to pull together 5 options,
however, I have not read all my picks. I had to look at all the books
I’ve read (whether I had them or not), books the rest of my family
had, and books that I want to read in order to come up with this
list. I made my ranking based on how pretty I think the cover is, how
vivid I think the emerald is, and my opinion on the book itself.
Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
(cover design by Danielle Christopher): This one takes first place
by a long shot. It’s the only book I’ve recently read, and enjoyed
it, and while the cover is predominately emerald, the rest of the
design and colors serves to create a gorgeous cover. The bronze
lining and letters, the shooting stars in the background, the
different shades of purple at the bottom, the flowing sari, and girl
riding a horse. It’s all just so pretty, and this ethereal beauty
actually ties into the writing itself well. Chokshi primarily use
purple prose to tell her story, relying on imagery and metaphors,
and she does a fairly good job at it. So while the cover doesn’t
exactly give any impressions as to what the story itself is about,
it does tie in well to the overall experience readers get when
reading the story.
2. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
(cover illustration by John Jude Palencar): This one gets second
place just for being almost entirely emerald. The image focuses on a
green dragon, which is surrounded by a thick border of the same
color. I haven’t read this book in years, and I honestly don’t know
what my opinion would be of it. Having already read the books I knew
the dragon on the cover won’t make an appearance until the very end
of the book, so they aren’t that relevant of a character, but it is
nice green cover that keeps the image simple and focused.
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid: So I haven’t read this book, yet. It made so many top
books of 2018 lists that I’m intrigued enough to want to read it,
even though it’s outside my comfort genre. The cover focuses on the
bright emerald dress that a woman is wearing, and while the dress
itself is pretty and vivid, I do get a sense of identity from this
book and am curious to see if and how the dress ties into the
overall narrative.
4. The Dead and the Gone by Susan
Beth Pfeffer: I was a little surprised that this one worked, but
comparing the cover against a picture of an emerald, I had to admit
that the colors are fairly matched. The book is about an apocalyptic
New York City where the moon has been knocked closer and the cover
manages to convey that grim premise very well. The first book used
sapphire to create a calm atmosphere set in the country, while this
cover used emerald to create a bleak, dirty atmosphere with an urban
setting. Unfortunately I didn’t think the book lived up to that grim
impression you get from the cover, which is why it’s near the
bottom.
5. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
(Cover illustration by Talexi): I don’t actually own, this book (my
sister does). Nor have I ever read this book, and never plan to.
However, it does fit the requirement of being an emerald cover, and
I personally like the Throne of Glass covers.
I’ve come to the conclusion that
talking about things I like is hard because of how detailed I have to
get. I love reading about friendships, particularly in SFF, and there
were several options that I had in mind, but I managed to narrow them
down to 5. For this topic, I also decided to focus on a friendship
just between 2 people and not any friend groups since that’s a topic
I’ve already done. So there won’t be any Harry Potter, Six of Crows,
Wayfarers, or A Court of Mist and Fury characters here.
Amalia and Zaria from the Swords
and Fire series: This, this is the epitome of an SFF friendship
between 2 females! There’s a lot that I love about this
relationship. It’s the center of the entire narrative, and I’ve only
seen a F/F relationship be that one other time. They are the perfect
foil’s to each other, Amalia being the blue to Zaria’s red. While
Amalia starts out as a sheltered, bookish noble, Zaria is a loud
mouth orphan who had to survive on the streets. This difference, and
the fact that Amalia controls Zaria’s magic, put them at odds in the
beginning. Over the series, each one starts to have an influence on
the other and make them a better, more well rounded person. Zaria
slowly begins to open up emotionally to other people (also she cares
very much about her dog) and Amalia becomes a more active person who
wants to bring change to the Mews. Both show a deep trust and
loyalty to each other that only grows stronger as the series
progresses. I absolutely love these 2 as individuals, but for them
to maintain such a strong friendship brings a whole new element to
each of them.
2. Isabella and Tom from The Memoirs
of Lady Trent series: While the series did go downhill, and this
relationship was highlighted less and less, I still fully appreciate
for being a great platonic friendship between a man and a woman that
remained that way through the entire series. At first these 2 didn’t
like each other because they were jealous of the others position in
life (him being a man and her being nobility) and viewed the other
as competition. As they are increasingly forced to work together to
achieve a mutual goal, they grow to respect each other and even
start seeing each other as allies to help one another achieve their
goals. In the second book, rumors start spreading about the 2 being
romantically involved, and while it’s a relationship I could
honestly support I think I like it better because there was never a
romance. Much like Jesper and Inej from Six of Crows or
Kenji and Juliette from Shatter Me,
this is a good example of a platonic F/M relationship because it
develops over time and you clearly see the 2 being mutually
supportive of each other.
3. Nessa and Meghan from The Call:
Last autumn I was non stop gushing about this book because I was
honestly stunned by just how good it was. Well I’m back on the hype
train to provide yet another example of why this book was good and
you should definitely read it. They posses contrasting personalities
and motives, and despite each one having moments where they question
why they are still friends, they still clearly remain loyal to each
other. They defend each other from the bullies in the school, and
when one of them dies it’s clear how traumatic this is for the other
one. Their friendship is honestly a minor thing, but it’s something
I really appreciate both because of how strong it is and how natural
it feels.
4. Crowley and Aziraphale from Good
Omens: This is going to be hard explaining why I like these 2 so
much but I will try to put into words as best as I can. The best way
I can describe the interactions between this demon and angel is like
an old married couple. The 2 have been on Earth for centuries, and
while they have differing goals they start to appreciate each others
company and this strange planet that they reside on. So with the
apocalypse coming, they work to achieve a mutual goal. They are just
so fun and quirky, both individually and together
5. Darrow and Sevro from the Red
Rising series and Sam and Edilio from the Gone series: I had to talk
about these 2 together because they are so similar. Darrow and Sam
are both hero figures, who develop a bit of an ego. Sevro and Edilio
start out as a nobody who helps their partners in the beginning and
the pairs eventually evolve into best friends. While I do like these
relationships, it’s mainly because of Sevro and Edilio carrying the
relationship (like Magnus Bane in The Mortal Instruments). Both
display unwavering loyalty and I love their personalities, Sevro
weirdness and Edilio being a sweet bean. Not that I don’t like
Darrow or Sam, I just think there archetypes are a bit more generic
and don’t display loyalty to the degree that their best friend’s do.
Man, this was not an easy topic.
There’s an overwhelming trend in books, especially YA for some
reason, that parents are usually dead or absent from the narrative.
This can be applied to both mother’s and fathers, but it seems to be
worse with mothers. I had to go through all of my books individually
almost all of them where irrelevant to the story or protagonist (like
Darrow’s mom in Red Rising) were dead and irrelevant (like Maya’s
mother in The Star Touched Queen) or ended up having a more negative
impact in the protagonists life, dead or alive (like Meira’s mother
in Snow Like Ashes). Needless to say I tried to avoid mother’s who
fall in these categories and that unfortunately only applied to small
percentage of books I’ve read. What I was really looking for is
mother’s who are a positive influence on their children and show
clear devotion to them while maintaining a good, if not complicated
at times, relationship, and many of them even feel like their own
individual characters (albeit minor ones). Also while I did try to
pick mothers who are actually alive through the entire narrative (so
far), there is an exception but that’s only because they fit all my
other criteria of being a good mother. Finally there will be no Harry
Potter mothers on this list, since they are all awesome and we
already know that.
La Contessa from the Swords and Fire series:
This character is one of the many reasons why I love this series so
much. While still only a minor character, she is still an active
part of Amalia’s life. At the beginning I was worried she would just
be another snobby noble who looks down on her daughter, but that
isn’t what happens. Instead she encourages her daughter to grow and
take a more active role in politics, which Amalia does. She’s always
looking out for her daughter from the shadows, like making sure her
daughter has an ample supply of the elixir she needs to live and
sending along her faithful handmaid/ spy Ciardha if she’s ever
seriously concerned about Amalia’s safety. You don’t see much of the
relationship between Amalia and La Contessa, which is to be expected
since Amalia’s a young adult, but despite that Amalia and her mother
still have a good relationship and Amalia looks to her mother for
advice at times. It’s the epitome me of a mother/ daughter
relationship I want to see more of in fiction.
2. Maggie Walker from The Year I
Turned 16: While there isn’t any specific reason I like this one,
this mom manages to defy so many parental tropes in YA. She’s a
single mom that is struggling to raise 4 daughters as they grow
through their teenage years and running low on funds. Despite losing
her husband and the struggles she has, she still maintains a
positive persona, a good relationship with her daughters, starts a
successful catering business and even manages to find love again.
She works well not just as mother but as a character too.
3. O-Shizuru and Burquila Alshara
from The Tiger’s Daughter: Much like my top entry, these mother are
minor characters who remain a part of their daughters lives, even
when removed from the plot. They both stand out as strong women and
have a close relationship similar to that of their daughters,
despite their different backgrounds. They both have a strong
influence on their daughters, to the point where their children work
to emulate their mothers. It’s also clear that these mothers care
very much for their children and will go to great lengths to protect
them but also alert their daughters to the harsh realities of their
world.
4. Sally Jackson from The Percy
Jackson series: Now this is a book series that I don’t think gets
enough love despite how reminiscent it is to Harry Potter (I blame
the movies). I haven’t read this series in years, but I remember
Sally being a pretty decent mother. She’s not in the series much but
she’s still a positive figure in Percy’s life and stays alive for
the entire series.
5. Essun from The Fifth Season: While
motherhood is a major theme of this series, I’ve only read the first
book and have only seen glimpses of Essun’s maternal side, which is
why she’s at the bottom. I liked seeing her at different stages of
being a mother as well as the grief and trauma she goes through, but
it just wasn’t enough for me. I still really wish that there had
been a growing maternal relationship with her and Hoa, but that
didn’t happen. I have faith that Essun as a mother will become more
of a focus in the next books but there just wasn’t enough in this
book.
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