andat's Reviews (467)

Just so you all know, I spent most of the first 100 pages cackling like a madwoman at a book. Didn’t make me look crazy at all? Nope. 

This is even better than the first. I adore Vanja and all her antics which were on display from the first pages. No more will they or won’t they, it’s how they. (How they dare to toy with my heart!) We get to learn more about Vanja’s past and her future.

I’m not ashamed to say I bawled near the end. There’s a beautiful scene with family that just felt like…home. For those of us with more found family than blood, it was a lost piece of a broken heart slotting together and being made whole. 

Margret Owen is on her way to becoming an automatic buy/read author for me. I wasn’t quite convinced with the first book, but the second one sealed the deal . This series is most definitely coming to live on my bookshelf forever.

Thank you to The Nerd Fam for the gifted eARC. #arcoftheuniverse #thenerdfam 

This book is so incredibly infuriating. Not because it’s badly written. It’s not because it’s treading old ground. And it’s definitely not because it’s unoriginal. 

It’s infuriating because it’s so damn real. Every single set up, every interaction, every micro- and macro- aggression is right there. In living color reality right freaking now. I’m reading this very well- written book with my jaw clenched because I want to rage and scream at the society that still values white over right. 

Since we are on the tour of books that aren’t what you think they are, this is not sci fi. Not even a little. It’s 10 years in the future, but this is only peripherally sci fi in that it involves the setting up of a governance body on a future colony of Mars. So if you’re expecting a sweeping space opera, this is not your book. 

This would normally be where I tell you the plot. But I’m not. I went in with a little less than I’ve given you above to this book and I think it put me in the right headspace to read this. I’d recommend you do the same. It’s worth reading. It’s heavy at times and enraging at others. There’s also a thread of hope through it all. I think we could all use a little (or a lot) of that right now. 

Be warned, this is not romantasy. I know what the cover looks like. It’s not that. It’s sci fi. It’s sci do with a whole lot of rage against the classism and tyranny. And it’s freakin awesome. You hear me?  It’s. Awesome. 

It’s got mech suits, planetary and space travel, AI, technological advances and best of all one very angry young woman bent on revenge at the center. It is glorious!

Oh but I’ve read this before in Iron Widow. No, you haven’t. Oh, but it’s like Pacific Rim. No, it isn’t. 

What it isn’t is romantasy. It’s sci-fi. Zero romance. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. And it doesn’t even need it. 

Trust me, it’s amazing and all on its own!

Holy shit! 

First let me start here, this was a buddy read with a friend. I had no idea what I was going into. None whatsoever, outside that this trilogy may have been an influence for SJM.

I... have no words. The trigger warnings at the start, they do not play. They. Do. Not. Play. 

This is a slow burn. Emphasis on the slow. You'll wonder what the heck you are getting into. You get the world-building, you get the magic system and the social castes with the political landscape. You are walked through t he existence of three main character POVs. You will be confused as you read. Keep. Fucking Going. 

True to the style that may or may not have shaped SJM, all the action. All the glorious, blood-soaked, drunk with righteous revenge action happens in the last quarter of the book. I will not be the same. I will not.

All y'all jokers asking for the morall gray main characters. That is not what you want. Yo want morally black. And Daughter of the Blood will serve them to you on a silver platter. Best come prepared. Best come correct.

2.5/5 stars 

I didn’t know when I picked up this book that its base concept came from Star Wars fanfic. That being said, it’s not reading like it which is fine with me. (My whole house loves Star Wars, except me. I have a complicated relationship with the fan base and misogynistic portrayal of women in the earlier works.) 

It got off to a nice start with some good action and demonstration of the magic system. I would have liked to understand more about the magic, even over 100 pages in. It’s focusing more on the relationships of the two main characters which is fine, but I like some fantasy with my enemies to lovers tropes. (I will also admit I’m fresh off the hurt from the Black Sun trilogy that started out so incredible with the magic system and then went…weird. So, this is causing some healthy side-eye from me right here.)

As I get a little further in, I’m feeling a strange inconsistency. One chapter will totally hook me and draw me in, the next I find myself spacing out as I’m reading it. And it’s not a specific pov or character that’s causing it. It jumps across all of them. I almost wonder if this would have benefited from a first person POV. Third person is causing me to feel removed from the story in a way that’s causing me to struggle with continuing. And please for the love of cake, explain the magic system! I don’t mind if you spend the first 100 pages bringing us into the world, building the magic system and politics. But if I’m 160 pages in and I don’t understand the magic OR the political bodies at play, then I’m going to stop caring what happens next. I’m sad to say this one is a DNF for me. What a bummer. 

Andrew Joseph White is fast becoming an instant buy/read author for me. I’m reading this with my heart in my throat the whole time. It’s a mirror of so much that is happening where I am right now. The political struggle, the small town mentality, and teenagers trying to find who their authentic selves are. My own family flies the rainbow flag and I’m proud of who they are every day. Reading stories like this and feeling the struggle in the words to simply be accepted makes my heart break. I want to sweep them all into never ending mom hugs (with consent of course). I believe this is a must read for everyone, whether you have the same type of family and especially if you do not. Walk in someone else’s shoes to know their pain. If you come out the back side of this book and you still feel hate in your heart, then well, that’s on you. 

I swear this writing duo is otherworldly. Once again, they drew me into outer space with a group of mismatched teens and well, there they go trying to save the galaxy. And here I am, loving every second of it. 

I wanted to like this one. I really did. Southern gothic horror, but make it modern YA. It had potential. Then somewhere around the 50% mark it starts flopping around like a magikarp. It was covering so many things all at once and yet, not enough of them? This could have been like 100 pages shorter and been FINE. The twists and turns were good, they just happened too fast and without much preamble. It’s an okay spooky little read, especially for YA. 

The Raven Scholar is a fantasy… 

No. That’s not quite right. 

It’s a mystery… no. 

Yes. 

And… it’s got magic. 

Fantasy with magic. 

Yes. 

And.. a mystery. 

A murder mystery. 

With court intrigue. It’s got gods, too. 

Court intrigue. With the gods. 

And magic. And a mystery. And murder. 

You forgot fantasy. 

Damn. I did. 

It’s got… 

Friendship?

Yes. That. 

And?

You should just read it. 

Yes. Go read it. 

It will make sense then. 

Will it?

Shhh. Just read it. 

Look, I know what you’re thinking. Is it going to win any literary awards? No. Is it fun and highly entertaining? Yes. Yes, it is. Think Hogwarts if CW produced it with angsty teenagers. It’s a guilty pleasure in all the right ways. (Also the professor names are killing me. Rockford for Earth, Canis for erm, you know and Washer for water…I’m dying. Professor Pyro. I’m dead. Dead.)

Do the twins do stupid shit? Yes. Because they are 18, and that is when you do stupid shit. Are the villains extra cruel? Yes, because they are also stupid teenagers. Was this fun as hell to read? Abso-fucking-lutely. Just the right thing to help break up the DNF/reading slump I was in. 

Also my library only has the first book. What kind of sick monster would do that!?!? I bet it was those Heirs…