WHAT IS THAT PILE OF SHRIEKING FLAILING FEELS OVER THERE? Oh wait...it's me.
After being somewhat disappointed with Inkspell (the ending particular) IWHAT IS THAT PILE OF SHRIEKING FLAILING FEELS OVER THERE? Oh wait...it's me.
After being somewhat disappointed with Inkspell (the ending particular) I was kind of nervous about starting this one. Turns out I had no need to be nervous. Inkdeath incorporated everything I loved about Inkheart and Inkspell with none of the awfulness of the ending (except for one eeny-weeny little thing, which I'll whine about in spoiler tags in a few minutes).
SMOL LIST OF THINGS TO LOVE: -Mo and Resa are my OTP. I adore them (view spoiler)[and Resa's being pregnant! *squeals really super loudly* (hide spoiler)] They were such a sweet couple, but also realistic--I loved that they weren't always perfect towards one another but that their actions still had consequences. Book parent goals here <3 -Also, Mo/Bluejay/Silvertongue. He didn't do a whole lot of reading in this one, but the skin of Bluejay fit him so well and I loved it. -(view spoiler)[DUSTFINGER CAME BACK!!!!! And my goodness, if he wasn't epic and amazing. The only thing I can say is that I needed MOOOOOORE of him. (hide spoiler)] -The love triangle was so well-handled. Normally I don't like it when my initial ship sinks, but this one was so realistic and handled very tastefully, even though I wish Doria had had a little more of a personality. -THE MARTENS. BECAUSE MARTENS. -Violante reminded me of one of my own characters in her scheming and plotting and gray morality and I loved her in every conceivable way. -The three words that had to be written in the white book match the titles! (Heart, Spell, Death) -Turning into a bird because ASFLK;SL. -MY CHILD MEGGIE IS SO OLD NOW -All the little kids...poor things. -While the villains of this latest installment don't reach the awesome villain levels of Capricorn and Basta they're still pretty darn great. -Dustfinger and Roxane. Because #OTP. -The way rabid fanfiction writers are depicted is hilarious. (Please note that I am not here to diss fanfiction, I just think it's really funny how Orpheus thinks that since he is a fan of the book he knows it better than its author. And then proceeds to do everything in his power to ruin it. I don't think all fanfiction authors are like this at all...it was simply a very humorous portrayal.) -Elinor and Darius's parts were small but oh do I love them so much. -Oh by the way did I mention Mo? Because Mo. -Hiding in the trees...it was so cool. -I feel like this deserves mentioning...all the characters love to talk about how amazing the story and the world that they're trapped in are, and provide "snippets of genius" and other stuff like that that may well be Funke laughing up her sleeve. The best part of this is that it never feels like Funke is unfairly singing her own praises or anything else like that. And the snippets of the fictional "Inkheart" really are pure genius. <3 -The plot twists threw me almost every time. I was never suspecting them. -JUST ALL THE CHARACTERS K -Everything maybe?
MUCH SMOLER LIST OF THINGS TO DISLIKE -This mostly has to do with the old villains and the new ones? -I don't know why it's so unclear...I loved Capricorn and Basta. I never cared about the Magpie and while the Adderhead is a very menacing villain...he never really got to me the way Basta did. -Bascially Basta was one of the best things about this series, and book 2 totally underused him while book 3 tried to smuggle in a cameo of him. That cameo was probably the most disappointing things in Inkdeath. -The Magpie...I'm sorry I just don't care? At all? -WHY WAS (view spoiler)[DUSTFINGER IN SO LITTLE OF THIS (hide spoiler)]
Overall I absolutely adored this book. It was an excellent fantasy romp with serious stakes but enough humor and inside jokes to make me smirk many times, and while it probably deserves more like 4.5 stars, life is short so it gets 5. If you haven't read this series yet...you should. ...more
**spoiler alert** Okay, so for most of the book I thought this was going to be a solid 4 stars, but then that ending happened and JUST NO. Like WHY? Y**spoiler alert** Okay, so for most of the book I thought this was going to be a solid 4 stars, but then that ending happened and JUST NO. Like WHY? YOU CANNOT KILL BOTH MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS OFF LIKE THAT!!!!! YOU JUST CAN'T! ARGH! *screams forever* So...it gets 3.5 stars. That may be unfair of me, but WHATEVER. I'M ANGRY.
(although Resa and Mo are my ultimate OTP and agghhhhh I love them too much. plus the whole thing with the bluejay i loved it k?)...more
A book about book appreciation! The brilliance of characters! One that acknowledges that yes, auth*shrieks*
That was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
A book about book appreciation! The brilliance of characters! One that acknowledges that yes, authors are weird, but we aren't wackos (at least not all the time)! One that deals with wonderful parent-child relationships and is just oh-so-beautiful. The prose, the characters...all of it. I have finally found a good book, y'all (and what are the odds that it would be in the middle grade section? *sighs* I'm about ready to give up on YA...).
Some more specifics: -The maven is super cool! So were all the other fantasy creatures. -I ADORED the way Funke used snippets of other books to open every chapter. At first it was a little bit weird, but after a while, when I was used to it, I LOVED it. -Can we talk about Elinor, please? Because I think every bookworm wants to grow up to be Elinor. -This was a book where the villains weren't sympathetic, or tragic, or human, or anything like that. They were just plain evil. And while I love shades of grey and real human villains, it's honestly refreshing to occasionally read a book where the villain is just plain bad for the sake of being bad. -Reading is a gift in this book! -It's about a fictional book called Inkheart in the middle of a real book that's actually called Inkheart! -I know, I know, I know he's a villain...but let's just all take a moment to appreciate the evilness that is Basta because he's chilling and awesome. #VillainGoals -Meggie was adorable and I appreciated her so much. Definitely me as a twelve-year-old. -Firad! YES PLEASE! -The plot twist with the shadow was EPIC. -<3 <3 <3 <3 -Just everything was amazing.
A few minor quibbles: -Some of the repetition did get a little annoying (there were earworm phrases, and they kind of got on my nerves). -The whole thing with (view spoiler)[Dustfinger and Resa...I don't know, it was just sort of weird. :P (hide spoiler)] -I wish (view spoiler)[Capricorn had gone out with a bit more of a bang. (hide spoiler)] -It was kind of super long.
These are small complaints though, and since this was a masterfully done book I'm awarding it four stars and shouting from the rooftops how much I enjoyed it. Definitely recommend this one. <3...more
My rating of this book goes up each time I read it, but I think having read a book 3 times and loving it every time means it merits a favorThird read:
My rating of this book goes up each time I read it, but I think having read a book 3 times and loving it every time means it merits a favorite position. It’s just that good. I’m obsessed with Jude and her villain origin story. I’m obsessed with these characters across the board. I’m in love with political intrigue. Overall: yes.
SECOND READ IN OCTOBER 2019: Plz. Someone. Bestow upon me The Queen of Nothing. I needs it.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: The hype is real, y'all.
I grabbed this one on a whim, after seeing all the rave reviews EVERYWHERE about it...and I mean, it was good! Really good :D
LIKES: -Okay can we talk about Jude though...because Jude is amazing. I loved how she was so scheming and conniving and brutal and yet still felt pain at all the things she was doing. She did bad stuff, but it still made her sick and made her question what she was doing and she came out stronger on the other end. Agh so good. -Sister relationships! Vivi and Taryn and Jude are so sweet even just as a threesome, and having two sisters myself, I can say that their relationships were actually written very well indeed. Vivi is the oldest and the rebel; Taryn is the middle one who's quiet and who most people ignore; and Jude is the youngest who both wants to rebel AND who wants to fit in. Super well-done. -Cardan was SO COMPLICATED AGH I LOVE GUYS LIKE THIS. -In terms of sheer enjoyability, the plot was excellent. I raced through this book in one day and I loved every minute of it. -The worldbuilding was so well-done. I mean, it's the whole Fey courts thing which is way overdone at this point...but. I feel like when it's done UNIQUELY, it's amazing. -At one point they go to the Maine Mall and ride past the jetport in Maine and AGH I KNOW ALL THESE PLACES AND THAT WAS SUPER COOL. -The Ghost and the Bomb and the Roach were AWESOME. I love cool spy characters. -The plot twists...can we just say WHOA.
DISLIKES: -It got super violent at one point in particular. Like wow. -I didn't get Locke and his role in the story? Ugh. -Some of the writing felt kind of /off/ to me. *shrugs* A couple of phrases that I just didn't get, some sentences that felt out of place...I don't know, I kind of felt like it could have used one more beta-read pass XD (but overall the writing was great so don't place TOO much weight on this.) -All the characters were SO DARK and like...the only person with a heart at all was Oriana. Although I kind of liked that because the difference between Fey and humans was really strongly accented...but at the same time I wished there could have been SOMEBODY less ruthless.
OVERALL: I think I'd give this one 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding it up to 4 because life is short and this book really was excellent just in terms of sheer enjoyability. I'll definitely be picking up the sequel, too!...more
If I’m being honest, this read was more of a 4 star. I forgot that this book is relatively young for YA, but I still loved every minute of iREREAD #3:
If I’m being honest, this read was more of a 4 star. I forgot that this book is relatively young for YA, but I still loved every minute of it.
REREAD #2:
BRUH. THIS BOOK.
That's it that's all I've got.
I love Simon.
I love Trina.
I love Kestra.
I hate Gabe and I hate Tenger and I hate Endrick and I hate Sir Henry and just *insert angry emojis here*
ON TO BOOK TWO AND THEN BOOK THREEEEEEEE
REREAD #1: February 2019
I thought it was agonizing to wait for The Deceiver's Heart BEFORE now. But now! Having reread this one!!!!! I may well die long before I get that book (never mind that I've preordered it and it should be here within a couple of weeks xD)
I'm having trouble writing a coherent review at the moment, so let's start off by saying:
KESTRA is a girl I would love to be friends with. She's so strong, so willing to throw herself into harm's way if it saves others. I love her character growth, as she goes from being a girl who only cares about a couple of people to wanting to save the whole country. Her sass is impeccable; her arc is beautiful. She does what must be done. Somehow, she feels different from most other YA protagonists. I Love her wholeheartedly.
SIMON is the MVP. He didn't need to be as dedicated as he was, but HE WAS. He fought in places he could have run; he was always the first one rushing headlong into danger; he even stood in the hallway, knowing full well that he was a spy and could be in HUGE trouble, and casually said "Good morning" to Lord Freaking Endrick himself. I mean....WHAT. This guy. He has a heart of gold and nerves of steel. Can I marry him please.
TRINA is such a complex, well-written, deep character. I don't have a ton to say about her, just that I really hope there's more about her in book 2 and we get to hear more about her. She and Kestra are sort of woven together now and will be forever....mwahahahaha.
THE SETTING too is perfect. One thing I admire about Jennifer Nielsen's writing is that she doesn't shy away from making ridiculously vast worlds that would confuse most readers--and yet she manages to keep track of everything and make lots and lots of factions that all have their own goals and yet are all still memorable. I think I've observed growth here between this book and the Ascendance trilogy, too--in the latter, I occasionally found myself confused by the sheer number of countries involved, but here I was never confused. Coracks, Halderians, Endrians, Dallisors, the Dominion, and the Scarlet Throne are all players here, and somehow it still manages to make sense. I love this world and I can't wait to see more of it ^_^
THE PLOT TWISTS are still just as great a second time through. I barely remembered half of what happened, which was marvelous, because I was pleasantly surprised.
EVERYTHING ELSE????
I need book 2, NOW. Most anticipated book of the year. Gimme.
(Also...is the blurb of that one saying that Endrick is going to make Kestra an Ironheart? Because...if he does I will beat him. With all the fury of an offended fangirl. This has been a PSA.)
Original Review: May 2018
OH WOW. I picked up this book on a whim at the library because it was on the new books shelf and because I had heard of the author from a lot of my friends. I meant to get the False Prince first...whoops. Excuse me whilst I go and preorder both book 2 of this series AND Resistance, the WWII Holocaust novel that Nielsen has coming out.
Ahem. Now that that is out of the way...
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I know I had it at four stars when I had first finished it, but the more I think about it....the more I think it deserves five. SO GOOD.
The characters, for starters. I think the one downside to the characters (and this is genuinely the only downside!) was that Kestra's name was very similar to that of Kestrel, the heroine of the Winner's Curse trilogy. I loved Kestra WAAAAAY more than I did Kestrel, but since they were sort of similar stories, that was a little distracting. :P Other than that....I ADORED THEM ALLLLLL. Kestra and Simon were both wonderful little snarky cinnamon rolls, and their romance....ooh I loved it. And Trina was beautifully complicated and conflicted and I LOVED HER TOO. I think the only character I didn't like was Henry Dallisor....he and Lord Endrick (UGH to both of them, but in a horrible villain sort of way, not a bad-character sort of way.)
The plot was mind-bending....I saw a couple of the twists coming, but not all of them. And I'm not usually crazy about the whole long-lost family thing, but this time I adored it (no spoilers if you haven't read the book, but it was executed really, really well.)
The romance too. Argh I loved it. It didn't feel like instalove, somehow, even with the fact that the story is like four days....and I love childhood friends to enemies to lovers for some reason. (And enemies to lovers is always going to be one of my favorite tropes...) SO SO GOOD.
I also loved that this book is a comp title for one of mine (I won't say which because that might be spoilers for MY book....but it is the comp for one of them ^_^) Which is SO COOL!!!!!!
And let me just say: WHERE IS THE SEQUEL. Having read the synopsis for book 2 here on goodreads....NO NO NO NO NO NO. GIVE ME BOOK 2. PLEASE. I BEG YOU.
5 stars. 5 glorious stars. I love this book, and I need to get me some more Jennifer Nielsen ASAP....more
I've never actually read Oliver Twist (I know, I call myself a theater nerd and a lover of the classics, but I still have not read How disappointing.
I've never actually read Oliver Twist (I know, I call myself a theater nerd and a lover of the classics, but I still have not read that one. Oh well) but I know the story vaguely and was eager to pick this one up when I saw it at the library. I loved The Lost Girl of Astor Street, another book by this same publisher--Blink--and I knew that they had a reputation for publishing clean reads. That's their trademark, actually. I figured there was nothing to worry about.
That reputation is why I'm judging this book so harshly.
As a historical novel, this one was excellent. It was a fast-paced, well-plotted novel that provided atmosphere, strong characters, and a fun, exciting ride through the London streets. I really enjoyed that aspect of it, and I wish I had more positive to outweigh the negatives. But negatives, I'm afraid, are a way of life...and so I'll have to provide some of those too.
There will be some spoilers in this review, although I'll try not to spoil the major plot points for the sake of those who might still want to read this book.
The thing I didn't understand was why Jack and Olivia fell in love in the first place. Olivia is the titular Oliver Twist, and this book serves as something of a sequel to Oliver Twist, just imagining that Oliver was a girl in disguise the whole time. Jack is the new name of the Artful Dodger, a street boy who took care of Ollie when "he" was a street boy. Both of them now live in upper-society London now, and are content with robbing people randomly--Jack because his new "aunt" requires him to in order for them to survive, Olivia because she and her uncle are losing money quickly and she desperately wants to provide for a little band of orphan boys out on the streets. They meet at a party where they catch each other stealing from the house, and Olivia runs away quickly--but not before noting his "broad shoulders" and him noting her "autumn-wheat hair" and "tawny eyes." They both claim to be furious at the other for getting in the way, but at the same time...they don't seem too mad about it.
Then the SECOND TIME THEY MEET (second time!) Jack saves Olivia from some guys trying to assault her (okay, good job, Jack, I can applaud you for this) and then she flirts heavily with him in order to get away without answering as to why she stole HIS money. He's angry about the money being stolen, obviously...but more angry about the fact that it turned him on when she acted like she was going to kiss him.
And of course on their next meeting, they do kiss. Very eagerly. They know nothing about each other--just that they're both two very attractive young people and get a rush when they look at each other. They flirt back and forth for a while, and in the midst of this Olivia gets engaged to a faithful childhood friend who genuinely cares about her and who she seems to like--although of course "not in that way." My goodness, could we maybe have a romance someday where the girl DOES realize that her faithful, loyal childhood friend does love her and she can love him back?
The scene that gave me the most trouble with this book, however, comes about halfway through. Olivia is changing into a boy costume in order to go out and see her orphans when Jack sneaks into her house, somehow, and enters her room in the middle of the night. They very passionately make out until Olivia can't breathe, and she unbuttons her shirt and then part of her chest bindings to be able to do it again. At this point Jack pushes her up against a bed and it's implied that they'd both like to go further. Note: Olivia is in fact ENGAGED at this point. Then this dialogue happens:
"He cut her off. 'It's Grimwig, isn't it?' He shoved off the bed. 'You're saving yourself for that idiotic dolt!'" … [They argue about the fact that Jack went to the theater with Olivia's cousin, to whom he is NOT engaged]
"A predatory light sparked in his eyes, reminiscent of a lion with its tail twitching in the air as he stalked toward her. He backed her across the room and spoke with slow deliberation. 'Would it kill you to have a little faith in me? Just for once? To give me the benefit of the bloody doubt?'
"Olivia stopped when her back hit the dresser. 'I--'
"he leaned in and raced a hand on either side of her, trapping her between his arms. Her pulse accelerated in time with the warning vein pulsing in her throat.
"'Does Grimwig kiss you until you can't stand?' He demanded.
"Olivia didn't move, words failing her.
"'Can he make you lose your breath?' Jack's tone softened. 'Can he?'
"When she shook her head, all the tension left her arms and he took her chin between his fingers..."
This doesn't exactly...sound romantic to me. It's like, Jack, honey, SHE'S ENGAGED TO SOMEONE ELSE, OKAY? And that's okay! She's known this guy her whole life...it's not like she's cheating on you. In fact, you're making her cheat on HIM with you! And it's up to her if she wants to "save herself for him," actually. This whole scene left a very bad taste in my mouth.
Of course, her fiancé ends up being a villain (not through any fault of his own, the poor dear...he's just ignorant) and she storms out on him. Someone dies, although the fact that everyone is literally ONLY concerned about this because of what happens to our hero and heroine in the wake of it makes me feel really bad for the victim...(view spoiler)[she was MURDERED, for Pete's sake, and her own cousin shows no sorrow whatsoever except for the fact that now her boyfriend is imprisoned for not committing the crime! And once they've gotten him out of jail, they don't spend a drop of time thinking about poor Francesca...she's just a means to an end. Poor girl. She and Max both did not deserve this. (hide spoiler)]
Besides this rather unhealthy romance (the two acknowledge almost constantly that what they're feeling is dangerous and should be restrained, but never do anything to try to stop it) there's a lot of language for what's supposed to be a clean book. Several h-words, a number of d-words, and a whole host of "bloody"s join more mild words like "blast", "blight," and "dolt." If this were a mainstream book this level of language would not affect me in the least, if I'm being quite honest...but for a publishing company explicitly advertised as CLEAN it was rather surprising.
This is not a book I can recommend. I'm thankful I didn't buy it, and I'm disappointed--both in the author and in Blink. Because this could have been an epic story had the romance been a bit less physical (both in attraction and in execution) and had the side characters not been so utterly swept under the rug to make room FOR the romance. I'm giving it 2.5 stars, because the historical part really was executed well, and I liked the little band of orphans...but otherwise, no.
(view spoiler)[Also, what happened to Monks? He committed the murder and the kids stole his safebox….but he's not exactly in jail at this point. He's still roaming the streets, probably seeking revenge. But no matter to that, since our beloved Jack and Olivia have each other now. (hide spoiler)] ...more
On the one hand, it's a pounding, heart-stopping, amazing adventure packed with amazing characters, oneI'm genuinely uncertain how to rate this book.
On the one hand, it's a pounding, heart-stopping, amazing adventure packed with amazing characters, one in particular very wonderful romance, and so many plot twists my mind exploded a couple of times.
On the other, it's about a group of lowlife thieves fighting their way to a reward they were double-crossed out of. And as such, they're playing very, very dirty to get their money. Six main characters, against the world--and it sort of seems like there is genuinely no telling who's in the right. Everyone is wrong. Everyone is right. That was sort of mind-exploding too, but not in a good way.
There's a lot of content in this book. I don't think I could really recommend it on that count. But surprisingly, it didn't feel as bad as did Six of Crows, which is...interesting, I guess. I don't know. Because this sequel is a whole lot darker.
The characters are still amazing. Kaz has grown on me a lot--I don't adore him like a lot of the SoC fangirls seem to, but he's definitely not as REPULSIVE as he was in the first one, if I may. XD Inej was a little more meh in this book than the last, but that's okay, I still loved her. Nina was still my waffle queen. Matthias was just plain wonderful. I actually appreciated Wylan and Jesper a little more this time around. :P Kuwei was...really not my favorite. Talk about flat filler characters. XD
I think I'll settle with three stars. A good series, but not one I can recommend without a lot of content caveats. If you'd like to know more about that, feel free to PM me....more
So in my humble opinion, this book never quite reached the emotional highs and desperate lows of the Blades of Acktar series. It simply wasn'HOLY COW.
So in my humble opinion, this book never quite reached the emotional highs and desperate lows of the Blades of Acktar series. It simply wasn't quite as compelling-- I didn't love the characters /quite/ as much, and I wasn't quite as crazy about the characters. BUT! I think I felt the same way about Dare, the first book in Blades of Acktar, when I read it the first time. So, I'm not taking off points for that. It's just that I wasn't as crazy about this story (but Tricia Mingerink will absolutely always be an auto-buy author for me ;))
Despite this, there's SO MUCH to love about this first book in a new series! The fairy-tale retelling aspect is so fun (I loved the unconventional take on Sleeping Beauty, and the fact that the traditional elements were THERE but DIFFERENT...let's just say all the love for that). The "spindle" becomes a dagger, and I love the way that aspect was implemented. The "true love's kiss"....well, let's just say that I won't spoil anything because it's so much better to find it out for yourself when you read the book for yourself ;)
World-building! Perfection! I was initially a little weirded out by the Western aspect, but Mingerink had me convinced in just a few pages. Because this was PERFECT. The canoeing. The "tribal" feeling to the whole thing. The buffalo hunt! Log cabins and pioneers! Dangerous paths through the mountains!!!! I LOVED IT. ALL OF IT.
And the characters. I didn't feel like they were quite as wonderful as the Blades characters, but they were still amazing. I ADORE stories with strong character arcs (especially ones where an arrogant self-centered guy who could be so great figures out that he's got issues) and Alex's was no exception. He was terrific. Rosanna was a relatable heroine--strong but not ridiculous. I adored her. And DAEMYN. DON'T GET ME STARTED. He was amazing. (And the plot twist with him was just like O_o) The other characters weren't quite as amazing (although ZEKE WAS EXCELLENT, and I really appreciated Rosanna's brothers. Let me just say I love brother-sister relationships in fiction. ;)) Berend was terrific.
The allegory-type plot thread was brilliantly done. I loved it. SO INSANELY GOOD.
I think overall I'd give this book 4.5 stars. Because it wasn't QUITE as amazing as the Blades of Acktar, but as a series beginning it has SO much potential and I can't wait to see where Rosanna, Daemyn, and Alex go next! (And let me just say....that ending scene. With a certain character. If you've read the book, you know what I speak. If you haven't, WHY HAVEN'T YOU. My heart split into a thousand tiny pieces, but that's okay this time, Tricia...you put it back together XD)
Definitely recommend this one. Buy it. Read it. Love it.
Man. Ryan Graudin's books are brutal. Tough and brutal. I just wish this one hadn't had quite so much negative content. 3.5 starsMan. Ryan Graudin's books are brutal. Tough and brutal. I just wish this one hadn't had quite so much negative content. 3.5 stars...more
This book is perfect and I will never stop loving it with all of my entire heart.
RE-READ #1: June 2018 I adore this book. I will not apologize for my This book is perfect and I will never stop loving it with all of my entire heart.
RE-READ #1: June 2018 I adore this book. I will not apologize for my love for it, nor for reading it twice in one year, nor of buying it on a whim for twenty bucks even though I probably should have waited for the paperback.
No, this book is a marvel.
If you have not read it, you should. If you have read it, re-read it. It is perfection.
GORGEOUS BEAUTIFUL PERFECTION.
Original Review: I have a new bookish true love.
The characters...the setting..all of it just absolutely stole my heart.
I picked this book up at the library on a random trip a while back, wanting to fill my cart and maybe expand my horizons. I read The Scorpio Races a few months back, and although I loved the Irish-y setting, the water horses, and a couple of the characters, it just didn't resonate with me as much as it seems to have with most of my bookworm friends. So I'd pretty much decided that Maggie Stiefvater just wasn't an author for me.
But then I tried All the Crooked Saints. And man oh man, was I wrong.
LIKES -BEATRIZZZZZ. I think she's sort of the main character--it's hard to say, since there's a loooot of POV characters--but in any event, I loved her so much. She and I are pretty much opposites--she is the girl without feelings, while I am the girl whose feelings explode out of me if I so much as sneeze. But she was still beautiful and wonderful and mmmm I loved it. -Pete. My precious Pete-child. He was pure and kind and wonderful and really wanted to make a difference with what he had of his life. He's kicked out of the army because he has a hole in his heart, and decides that after his successes in school of helping those smaller than him, he wants to start a moving company. This is what brings him to Bicho Raro. -Speaking of...Bicho Raro. The desert is alive. I have a sneaking suspicion the ranch is alive. Everything is sentient, and I adore sentient worlds. <3 The desert fell in love with Pete and he fell in love with it and I fell in love with it right along with him. -PETE AND BEATRIZ. THAT IS ALL. (The elbow thing was so precious and adorable and honestly kind of relatable?) -Joaquin and the radio station! The two go hand in hand, and I love that they did. -Historical fantasy is just a really awesome genre. -Daniel as a Saint and his backstory because oh GOSH I want to know more about that now. -Antonia and Francisco made me so sad. I just wanted them to come back together. Their story was so sweet, and they definitely didn't deserve the angst that they had to go through for the story. Stiefvater is cruel to the babies, y'all. -Tony and Marisita and the twins and all the other pilgrims. They had such diverse reasons for being there, and their hearts were so big, and the poor little things. They had to get rid of all their inner darkness ON THEIR OWN. Because there's a taboo on helping them. It's so sad. -The Southwestern, Wild West, ranch-y, Mexican feel of all of it. I always forget how much I love Southwestern stuff, and then I'm surprised when I remember and discover something including it. Ahh, I love it. -The writing. Something about the style--it was gorgeous. It was quirky. It was beautiful. I loved it.
DISLIKES -Can I just say I loved almost everything? -Okay, fine. I'll nitpick. -The beginning was a little slow, and took me a little while to get used to. I was initially thinking that this book would get 3 stars, which rose up to 4 as I read and by the end had effortlessly snagged a 5-star. So it's definitely slow-burning, interesting in a book this short. -Some of the spiritual stuff got a little weird--as a non-Catholic, I was a little uncomfortable with some of it, but it never strayed too far outside my comfort zone.
CONTENT:
Sexual: I'm pleased to say, almost none. I feel like there were some embraces and stuff, but nothing too drastic. There's a married couple no longer sleeping in the same house because they feel they have irreparable issues. There's a couple of romances between young adults, all pretty much clean--I don't even remember any kisses.
Language: Tony cusses a couple of times, but it's made very clear that that's just Tony. I think the total cussing is one s-word, a couple a-words, a couple d-words, and a couple of those with God's name. Really not much, which was lovely.
Drugs, etc.: Tony has a stash of marijuana in his car. He smokes a little bit but not much. There's a scene with some ranchers with guns who /might/ be drunk? I honestly don't recall.
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. I loved it. I'm so glad I read it, and 100% recommend. I don't think they're similar, but at some point I may have to try the Raven Cycle. Maybe since Stiefvater's work is obviously diverse in my calculations, I'll enjoy it. <3
Like the sequels much better, but this is the book that started it all. So...to some extent, I love it. Dark. Traumatizing. Dangerous. But still so, sLike the sequels much better, but this is the book that started it all. So...to some extent, I love it. Dark. Traumatizing. Dangerous. But still so, so good. And important....more
Well, there's a couple of reasons. The first being that it took This book was BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT, I TELL YOU.
So why am I not giving it five stars?
Well, there's a couple of reasons. The first being that it took me a little while to get into this book--it just didn't capture me from page 1. The second is that his-fic never has been and never will be my favorite. BUT! This one is World War I, the forgotten war, which makes it excellent. (And, it's Christian. Which I absolutely love.)
I think I liked this book better than the first, which surprised me, because most of my friends said they liked the first one better. But...that's the way of it, I suppose. I loved the music, the characters, the emotional highs and lows. This was such a beautiful book, you guys.
Willa is my favorite his-fic female protagonist for a while now. Lukas was AMAZING. Both of them had such beautiful conversion stories, and THERE WAS SO MUCH HOPE IN THIS BOOK. Let me just FANGIRL SUPER DUPER HARD.
I don't really know what else to say about this one, except that it's beautiful and musical and hopeful and I adore it. <3 READ IT. 4.5 stars. ...more
I don't think I liked this one quite as much as I enjoyed The Traitor's Game by the same author, but it was still remarkably good. Sometimes it's fun I don't think I liked this one quite as much as I enjoyed The Traitor's Game by the same author, but it was still remarkably good. Sometimes it's fun to find books that are just a fun romping time, even if the plot twists are ones you can see coming from ten miles away (yes, I predicted all of them xD). I loved Sage, Imogen, and all the other characters, and I can't wait to see where this series goes next! ...more
Still 4 gorgeous stars. I'm in love with this series and I need to reread the first book.
LUKA LOWE IS THE HOTTEST SIZZLING BOOKISH BOYREREAD REVIEW:
Still 4 gorgeous stars. I'm in love with this series and I need to reread the first book.
LUKA LOWE IS THE HOTTEST SIZZLING BOOKISH BOY IN BOOK HISTORY. *fans self and swoons* So hot and gorgeous and selfless and *bursts into tears* *howls* *sobs forever*
THIS BOOK GAVE ME SO MANY EMOTIONS
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Yael. Yael. That's all I can say. She's one of my favorite heroines right now. She's epic and beautiful and feminine and broken and HUMAN. Her development over this book was the most compelling part of the story, and it made me cry and laugh and howl at the moon. Yael.
You thought Luka was boring in the first book? You thought he was nothing more than a flat love interest? You. Were. Wrong. As love interests go, he is one of THE BEST I've encountered in a very, very long time. His arc. Was. Magical. I fell in love with Luka Lowe, and my heart still aches from the end of this book.
I personally liked this book a lot more than the first one. It was a lot more compelling. It was about more than just winning a race--it was about saving the world. Yael's first book was about avenging the wolves she already had--this book was about keeping there from needing to be more wolves. I loved it. I loved it so freakin much.
Were some of the plot twists predictable? Yes. Was it slow sometimes, in the middle? Yes. Did I squirm a couple of times and grimace at the violence? Yes. But did I jump and dance at the parts that involved triumph? Yes, I did.
Because this book is about more than Yael, and she knows it now. She understands that she fights for something greater than herself. She has complex feelings about fighting in this battle and whether or not it can ever be justified to kill someone--will that turn her into the monster that the Nazis are, the monster that she's always been accused of being? I appreciated it so much. I'll say it again: Yael is tough. Yael is a fighter. She beats people up. She doesn't crack under torture. She doesn't flinch at setting her broken nose. She's a tough girl, and she knows it. But she is also so human. So feminine. She's a young woman who's had her identity stolen by the Nazis and her femininity stolen by the tough life of being a Resistance fighter and a Jew. But she is still a young woman.
There was more content in this book. There was more fighting, more death. But it was worth it this time. I really felt like, as in the case of Catching Fire, this book justified the violence and occasional strangeness of the first one.
Because it was good. And I don't know how much I can recommend it--as in the first one, there is quite a bit of violent content--but I will anyway.
Read it.
CONTENT Violence: A ton of violence. People are tortured, executed, and experimented on. Several people jump out of an airplane to escape. There's a scene involving amputation where you don't find out what happened til later but it's implied to be horrific. Lots and lots of fighting and death. The medical experiments of the Jewish death camps are a prominent plotline--not as much in this book as in the first one, but still a lot. Some violence involving a man beating a woman. Several people are shot and a few prominent characters die (But which ones? You won't hear it from me.)
SEXUAL: A long kiss that is not described in detail, just emotionally, kind of from an outsiders' POV. A past incident where a guy walked in on a girl taking a shower is alluded to briefly.
LANGUAGE: Quite a bit--all in German, although the meanings of the words aren't hard to guess. It was a LOT less than in the Book Thief, however, and I didn't feel like it detracted as much from the story.
DRUGS/ALCOHOL/ETC. Luka smokes, although not as much as he did in the first book. I feel like there was some alcohol at a couple of points, but it would have been drunk by adults. Medical experiments were performed on important characters, and while this time we don't really see them happen we see the horrible effects of the drugs on their bodies later.
Honestly? I loved this book. There was some content that I was uncomfortable with, thus the lower rating, but I stSo intense. So beautiful. So broken.
Honestly? I loved this book. There was some content that I was uncomfortable with, thus the lower rating, but I still could. Not. Get. Over. This. Story.
Yael! She was so feminine and beautiful and yet strong. I appreciated that so much. She grappled with the fact that, as a skin-changer, she seems to have no personality, no place in the world, no people to call her own. So sad. Luka! One of those complicated boys who might be pale and brooding but still knows what's what and isn't afraid to LAY. IT. DOWN. Felix! I need a brother like this k?
The tattoos themselves. Such a powerful way to remind us what was lost in this war. I cried a couple of times.
CONTENT VIOLENCE: Yael escaped from a Nazi death camp where medical experiments were constantly performed. There are some scenes with quite a bit of blood here, although they are flashbacks. Lots and lots of death as the Holocaust as we knew it drags on--in this story it's 1960 or so, Germany won the Second World War, and the purge of Jews continues. It's never too graphic or gory, although it can be hard to look at sometimes, but this level is never gratuitous--it's the truth. There's also some death and injuries that take place as a result of the motorcycle race. People are not nice, okay? It's dark but there is hope. A couple of assassinations take place.
SEXUAL: There are several references to Hitler's love life, none of which are at all explicit. Some innuendo, I think. A few kisses. Nothing too graphic.
LANGUAGE: Some light cursing in English, heavier cursing in German. Unlike the Book Thief, the German words are left untranslated, although their meaning is easy enough to infer. The a-word, both b-words, s-word, and g-word are all used a few times (mostly in German).
DRUGS/ALCOHOL/ABUSE: A doctor is said to perform horrific experiments on people, although we don't see a ton of that except for the (considerably milder) effects on Yael. A young man smokes cigarettes throughout the book. Food and water are drugged occasionally, with occasional disastrous results.
This book is hard to read. It's heavy. It's dark. It's a place we don't like to go.
But it's important. It's so important. Because the more we know of what happened then, the less likely we are to let it happen again.
Can I recommend this book? Not really. But will I? For mature young people who want to know some of the dark secrets of the Holocaust as well as read a terrific road race story, yes. Yes I will.
I’m not sure who wrote this original review, honestly, because it definitely wasn’t me. Who was this girl who read a stiefvater book aUpdated review:
I’m not sure who wrote this original review, honestly, because it definitely wasn’t me. Who was this girl who read a stiefvater book and said “meh”? Not Faith.
This book is perfection. This book takes the words “the sky and the sea and the sand and Corr” and makes it beautiful. This book is poetry in prose. It’s pure beauty. It’s amazing.
10/10 recommend.
Original review:
Debating between 3 and 4 stars. Probably 3.5, rounded up to 4.
This was an incredible story of worldbuilding on a little Irish island. Of love and family and despair and all the things in between.
A story of the havoc a single person can wreak and life in a small town. (Which was, BTW, portrayed so accurately it made me smile over and over.)
I would like a cappal uisce, please. Today, please.
Content:
Sexual: Quite a bit of innuendo. A few inappropriate touches (portrayed negatively,) a few kisses (some cheek, some mouth.) None of that is detailed.
Language: A few p-words, one g-word, a couple of a-words. And again, some innuendo, some of which has some fairly rude language used (but the language itself never really goes above PG.)
Substance/abuse: Sean is treated very poorly by his employer, Malvern, and Malvern's son Mutt. Some time is spent in a bar, although the characters we're interested in are not there to drink or do anything inappropriate.
Violence: people die. There's quite a bit of blood. But it didn't turn my stomach the way a lot of books I've read lately have.
Other: Puck attends confession and is depicted as a not-particularly-serious Catholic.
My favorite characters were Puck, Sean, Finn, and George Holly (just because I love the rich, kind horse people. ^_^)
-Maura don't ever scare me like that again -It's funny...this one and book 2 feel like they're from two different series and I'm not sure why? -GANSEY -Maura don't ever scare me like that again -It's funny...this one and book 2 feel like they're from two different series and I'm not sure why? -GANSEY THOUGH. -It's funny...even though this is technically the story of Gansey's quest the rest of them feel much more like the main characters (except for Noah, who is glorious but definitely a side character.) -I love Adam so much, I just can't -Still not feeling Blue/Gansey though...I don't know, it was cute but I'm not feeling the whole "true love" thing. -Gwen was so creepy beyond words. That whole section with the cave and stuff creeped me out so bad. -The courtroom scene...just YES YES ALL THE YES. -The Gray Man has become so excellent. -Persephone...why -I'm terrified of the next book because I love this series so much and yet I've heard that one is disappointing and I don't know if I want to read it -GANSEY. -AND ADAM -AND NOAH STOP CREEPING ME OUT LIKE THAT ARGH -Ronan was such a side character in this one? Like I wish he'd had more POV because I missed him. XD -And Blue is honestly the flattest one of the bunch (which is okay but I don't know...I don't love her for some reason.) -JESSE DITTLEY. THAT IS ALL. -This was just a really good book okay. ...more
R.F. Gammon
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amazing-worldbuilding
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