Books Archives - Page 11 of 20

Six Reasons to Like Six of Crows

Title: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series: Six of Crows #1

Published September 29th 2015 by Henry Holt & Company

Pages: 465

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Adventure

“Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Wow!

The hype for this book was deserved. This made the whole Grishaverse from Shadow and Bone WAY more exciting and adventurous.

It had exciting plot lines and a huge adventure that ACTUALLY get finished in the book.

From binge reading the Shadow and Bone series to reading starting this duology was a huge change.

To review: Shadow and Bone lacked good development of characters and setting. It lacked a show not telling piece in the story that would have set it high on my list. It was a great story and had great characters…but it lacked depth.

But Six of Crows was a major improvement in that area. While it may have lacked in few key character and plot development moments, it was a drastic improvement from SaB.

Plot

The plot was really interesting. It had a beginning, middle, and end. That seems like a very basic “well duh” element of a book but in Shadow and Bone, I felt like every book just stopped in the middle of a plot line until the next book. This book had a climax and falling action. It actually wrapped up really nicely with only one major cliff hanger for the second book.

2. Kaz

Kaz Brekker is my new favorite crush. This is probably influenced by the Netflix Shadow and Bone adaptation with him being played by Freddy Carter. But, hey what can I say. I love a man who secretly harbors a crush for a girl. I love the trope of “he-would-burn-the-world-down-for-her.”

3.Inej

Inej is a badass. You know I love badass women in literature. This book has the wraith, who no matter how much the world is out to get her, she defies them…and gravity.

4. Literally all of the characters

You couldn’t help but to love all of the characters. They all spoke to me in little ways. I think out of all of them Jesper is my favorite. He was witty and fun. He is also attractive and has some history around him.

5. Setting

Setting-wise, I was able to visualize Ketterdam and the Ice Prison really well. This was helped my a fantastic map of the Ice Prison thing in this book and a map of Ketterdam in the second book. Bardugo explains the setting with better details than her last series. She shows a lot of improvement in this series.

6. Multiple POVs

With multiple POVs, we get to see more characters and their thoughts. In Shadow and Bone, we only saw people through Alina’s eyes. Now we can make our own judgements about each character without bias from someone’s thoughts.

While she may have improved her writing, I did find a few things lacking.

The six person POV was interesting, but at times it felt rushed. There were moments and situations that I would have loved to see from another POV. I think that the six person thing was to needed at times because they were mostly all together in the same room.

The romance between Jesper and Wylan was a little rushed and lack luster. It seems to get glanced over. Jesper seemingly hates Wylan and than all of the sudden he is flirting with him? Yes, between the POV’s there is a whole lot of time going on there so obviously his feelings changed. I just wish I could have seen that.

There are more positives and negatives I would love to talk about, but I am trying to avoid spoilers.

Let me know what you guys thought down below. If you haven’t already, read this book (but read Shadow and Bone first so you don’t get spoiled for somethings.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

WWW: See what I am reading this week!

For those that dont know, WWW is a meme and this meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words. And it involves answering the 3 Ws!

What am I currently reading?

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

White Magic by Elissa Washuta

*If you want to see the whole list of my current reads, my Goodreads is listed in my sidebar of this blogsite.

What did I recently finish?

Fence: Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

What am I reading next?

Finale by Stephanie Garber

Link your post down below or let me know what you are reading this week in the comments!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Books with Questions as the Title: TTT

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This weeks theme is:

Book titles that are questions

I perused my Goodreads shelves to give you these books:

I could only come up with five. I know there are hundreds other but typing in “titles with a question” gives a lot of results. And all those questions kind of hurt my head.

This is just a short little post to get my head back into the writing space. See my last post to see why I took so long to post again.

Link your own articles on this topic down below and I will check it out.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Legen-wait for it-dary: Book review of Legendary

Title: Legendary

Author: Stephanie Garber

Series: Caraval #2

Published May 29th 2018 by Flatiron Books

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Pages: 451

“A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.“

My Review:

When jumping into this book, I was a little nervous. I really wanted more about Scarlett and Julian.

But, this book is set in Tella’s POV.

From the first book, I was not really happy with her actions. Yes, she saved her and her sister but she had done it in a way that caused her sister so much pain.

This book I think she kind of redeemed herself. You actually see her side of the story. You see why she does the things she does. Sometimes I do not like her. Her relenting mission to hate love is really annoying, but you know, people change.

I think the two love interests in this book were…HOT. Dante and Jacks are great. (Yes, Jacks is a love interest dont at me). Dante is my ultimate choice for Tella but there are some factors that make him iffy. Same with Jacks though.

I really cannot talk much about the two boys because there are a lot of spoilers for each of them.

Pros:

DANTE
Tella’s character development
JACKS
Dante’s tattoos
More development of the government
World-building
Interesting new story about the Fates

Cons:

Weird addition of the Stars (you’ll know when you read it)
Complete abandonment of certain plot lines in the first book
No more Scarlett and Julian (sorta)
Very indecisive writing
Felt like more of a brainstorm than a complete set plot

I think the pros and cons weighed against each other well. I think it was a good book. I felt as though some elements of the plot were not fully developed. I feel like it was really good. I think the focus on only one place to have to world build helped us gain more knowledge about the world. The last book was a little difficult and was not as developed. This one is way better for that reason.

So, all in all, I think this book was really great. I liked it a lot. There were some down falls but they might be made up for in the last and final book, Finale.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Ruin and Rising: The…interesting…end of the series

Title: Ruin and Rising

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series: Shadow and Bone #3

Published January 17th 2014 by Henry Holt and Co

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Pages: 465

“The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.” -Goodreads

My Review:

WHYYYYYYYYYYY

is this book series so good but so hard to read?

I do not want to make this long because I just have no f*cking words.

So many things went wrong. And so many things went right.

Lets start with right first since I think it will be a shorter list. Also SPOILERS IN THIS LIST!

Right:

Alina did not end up with the Darkling
Nikolai did not die
Alina and Mal ended up with a really happy ending
The Unsea is gone
The plot wrapped up really well (sort of)
Alina did not pull a lose-only-half-of-her-powers type deal

Wrong:

Alina did not end up with the Darkling
Nikolai did not die
Alina and Mal ended up with a really happy ending
Nikolai got turned into a monster
But like that was only touched on for a little
Mal was the third amplifier, like what????
Alina lost all of her powers
There were a thousand sun summoners created that was not described well
Nikolai got turned into a monster
Alina did not end up with Nikolai
Alina and Mal were supposed to go into hiding but they like didn’t?

The plot was, like I said last book, long on parts that should have been short and short on parts that should have been long. And there were so many holes.

But it was so good.

I just dont understand how mixed up my feelings are. I hated the means of the ending. The ending was nice (other than the aforementioned 1000 sun summoners) and wrapped well. But everything from the first page until the Unsea left, was wack.

Also, I hate to admit how I cried at Alina saying “Aleksander” at the end. That broke me in two. BUT HE WAS THE BAD GUY!

UGH I cannot talk about it anymore.

Did anyone else feel this way?

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.6

Mist and Fury and RHYSAND!!

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Published May 3rd 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA

Pages: 626

“Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.” –Goodreads

My Review:

I take everything I said about Tamlin back. Rhysand is life. Rhysand is my one true love. Tamlin is the spawn of Satan.

I mean seriously he was on his villain arc this entire book. I dont know if I am just dumb or if this was just so out of the blue.

Anyways…

Why does Maas always have to steal my heart like this? I just sit here and read her books and feel so engulfed in her books. She really knows how to hold her audiences attention better than most authors.

I feel so unfortunate to not be able to live in her worlds. Sometimes I just want to shift into the Faerie Realm and live 100 years with Rhys. But, I still do not know how to shift so that aint happening.

This book is so good. It literally made me so happy to read it. After finishing Throne of Glass, I was sad because Maas was a huge part of my soul when I read that. I was worried that when I read her other books, I would not feel that magical pull I felt from Aelin. But Feyre also has that pull. Aelin will always be my favorite, but I am glad to find Maas’ magic in this book also.

I bought two plants and named them Az and Cass. (If you saw the plants, you would totally see why). I believe that they are the best side characters in this book. If I could get a spin-off book of just these two, my life would be complete.

I will never love anyone like I love her characters. Rhysand is the new love of my life. I do not think I can stand mortal men anymore. And the wings seem like a great addition. I would love to be able to fly anywhere for free.

Feyre is pretty cool in this book too. I think her character development was a little blunt. Like it was more told not shown. I think that could have been better. But she is becoming a really cool person.

And lets talk about how Maas always has to have those twist endings where the main characters do not tell us something important.

I think there was a little lack of showing in this book. A lot of things are told in a way that they are Feyre’s thought which can be SUPER annoying. Sometimes it would be nice to lead the reader to a conclusion, not just blatantly compare and contrast everything. I do not recall Maas doing this a lot with Aelin in Throne of Glass. It is a weird change for me. I feel like I am being told everything and not being able to make my own inferences. If it happened once in a while it would be fine but the first half of the book it was “Tamlin does not let me do XYZ while Rhys lets me do XYZ,” which was Feyre stating the obvious at that point.

I still love the book though. I am not as smitten as I was with Throne of Glass but I do still like it.

It was a really good book and I am so ready to start the next book.

Let me know what you thought about the book!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

A Lazy List of Five

This weeks theme is:

Books with a full sentence as the title!

I wanted to keep going but this is my one night I have time to write so I am only going to have 5 books on this list.

What If it’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

It does not surprise me that over half of these were YA romance books. They always have the longest titles.

Don’t forget to link your post down below!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

New Book: A Veil of Truth and Trickery

Hey guys!

I spend WAYY too much time on TikTok. I am deep into BookTok and get book recommendations all day long.

But the other day, I got about five videos from Analeigh Ford, an author of a new book called A Veil of Truth and Trickery.

I have pre ordered this book because it seem like it is going to be so good!

Here is the cover:

How beautiful is it?

I cannot wait to add this to my shelf.

This is the synopsis:

“Delphine has been fae-marked from birth, treated as a curse despite the fact the once treacherous fae haven’t been sighted in decades—in fact, no one in Delph’s village has laid eyes on one of the folk in nearly a century.

Right up until a fae turns up on her doorstep, demanding Delph as down payment.

No sooner has she set foot in the fae realm, however, then she learns she’s no mere collateral in a deal made with the lord that owns her family lands. She was selected for a reason, hunted down for a single purpose.

The fae courts are fading. The folk disappearing.

Only four courts remain. Four princes determined to save their crumbling kingdoms.

And Delph … Delph may just hold the key to save them all.

But even as Delph learns to see past the feared glamour of the fae realm, she quickly learns the impossible position she’s found herself in. The fae may not be the monsters she was led to believe, but in order to save them … she may have to become a monster herself.” -Reverse Harem Author Website

It seems really entertaining.

I think that it is similar to Sarah J. Maas’ ACOTAR series. But it will be interesting to see the differences.

I preordered using this link and I got the signed hardcover. When you buy the signed hardcover, you also get the eBook format a few days before the hardcover goes out.

I am usually not good at keeping track of books coming out but this I am ready for.

Cant wait to see what you made Analeigh Ford! (Here is the link to her TikTok where she posts really fun videos on it!)

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Siege and Storm: Review

Title: Siege and Storm

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series: Shadow and Bone

Published June 4th 2013 by Henry Holt and Company

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Pages: 435

“Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her—or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Ahh just look at how beautiful that cover is. It is so gorgeous.

Anyways, so this book was really good. I read it in about a day and a half. I devoured it is what I should really say.

Because I have been behind on my reviews, I am going to keep this a really short.

First LOVE THE DARKLING and I am very ashamed. Second HATE MAL and I am not ashamed. Third Alina is dumb but also I like her. I dont know I have mixed feelings.

Then there is Nikolai. Let me just say that I am a Nikolai fan page now. I only care about Nikolai in this story and Nikolai only.

The pacing of the story is horrendously annoying. Some moments that should last half a page last for three. Some things like big epic moments, that I would accept lasting a chapter, are like a page long. I am pretty sure (SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE PARAGRAPH) huge fights between Mal and Alina lasted longer than any fight between the Darkling and when they capture the ice dragon thing.

Improvements form the last book:

Plot- adding in Nikolai
Plot-way more thoughts out then the last book. I think most of it seemed like filler and Bardugo could have just added…more. But, way more of an improvement.
Nikolai
Realm Building-Ravka became way more in-depth in this book than the last one. I think explanation of conflicting nation wars were better. We saw other places other than the Little Palace. I think there were better descriptions of buildings.
Character Development-Everyone in this book had growth and changed, unlike the last book. They all had some sort of significant shift in their persona. Mal became a big bag of d*cks. Alina got slightly less stupid and I could relate to her and her pull to the Darkling. The Darkling seemed to start to love. And Nikolai was introduced which made the series better.
Nikolai
Getting to see Nikolai

Also, let us talk about how I really thought we were going to get (AHH SPOILERS) that whole anti-hero arc we deserved. The darkness just never took ahold of Alina like I wanted. I mean seriously the ending was like on the precipice of this ultimate twist but nope, she just became a blonde. OOOOO scary!

Anyways, what I am trying to say is yes I liked the book. Could it have been better? YES! But, do I hate it? GOD NO!

It is definitely worth the read. But, like I said, it could have been better. Way better than the first book though!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.8